Three Months
by Michelle285
Summary: What if Perry invited Della out to San Francisco while he was there?  What would happen then? Ignore my bad summaries...like this one.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own some DVD's now…but still no recognizable characters. _

_ A/N: Well, this is my first try at a multi-chapter fic. It's kind of making me nervous. This has been running around in my head for forever though. I swore I would never write it, but I can't get any other ideas to develop until I write this one down, so I hope it's worth it. I have been promising some people for forever that I was working on it, so here it is, finally posted! I hope it's worth the wait. I'm also not really sure Paul's wife was ever mentioned (or if he had one, but we have to assume he did, according to PM Returns), so I made up a name for her. Enjoy! _

Perry Mason sighed. He really messed up this time. No, he didn't hate this job, but he hated the routine of it all. He didn't hate going into court every day and watching the two attorneys duke it out, but he hated not being able to be a bigger part of it. He didn't hate San Francisco at all, but he hated not being in Los Angeles. He definitely didn't hate his new secretary Nancy Swift, but he hated not having Della Street by his side.

With the last thought, he looked up at the three pictures on his desk. On the left side, there was Paul Drake, his wife Eve, and his son, whom Perry liked to call Little Paul. On the right side, there was a picture of Perry and Della. In the middle of both of the pictures was one of just Della. Perry didn't remember where the picture was taken, but it was one of the only ones he had of just her. He didn't normally put pictures on his desk, but since his _big mistake_ he needed reminders. Of course, the pictures only reminded him of what a huge idiot he was. He groaned and slammed the picture of Della down on his desk, trying to just forget.

A few seconds later, his new secretary, Nancy Swift walked into his office. "I typed up the opinion, Mr. Mason."

"Thank you, Nancy," Perry said. "I don't think there's anything else we need to do today."

Nancy nodded. She was getting ready to turn around and walk out, recognizing his dismissal, but she noticed the middle picture on his desk. It was facedown, again. She didn't know him that well, but she just couldn't stop herself from commenting. "You know, you should really just invite her out here."

Perry Mason raised his head to meet her eyes. "What?"

Nancy pointed at the picture. "The woman in this picture. I don't know who she is, but I assume she's very important to you. I've never seen her in person though so I can only guess that's because you've never invited her out here. It's been three months since you took this job! I think you should let her come out here and visit!"

Perry shook his head. "She's…nobody." He was trying to forget about Della, not dredge up memories. Not to mention he wasn't about to explain his complicated relationship with his old secretary to his new secretary of only three months.

Nancy crossed her arms. If she was anything, she was stubborn and she wasn't letting him get off that easy. "She doesn't look like nobody and you definitely don't act like she's nobody. When I take dictation, that picture is always facedown. After I finish with the dictation, you usually pick the picture up and stare at it for quite some time. Sometimes you'll slam the picture down in frustration or anger, I can't tell which just yet. Also, you're with her in the other picture. She's _not_ nobody."

Perry sighed with resignation. Nancy was definitely stubborn. It reminded him of Della in some ways. Sometimes he loved it and other times he hated it. This was one of the days he hated it. "She was my old secretary."

"So she's the one I've been modeling this whole office after," Nancy said.

Perry raised his eyebrows in question.

"Every time I do something, you have to correct me and tell me how your 'old secretary' did it. I typed up a brief for you once, but your old secretary did it this way. I organized your mail, but your old secretary did it that way. I bought a bookshelf and a couch, because your old office had one and they were your old secretary's ideas," Nancy answered his raised eyebrow. "I think she was more than your old secretary. Nobody keeps two pictures of their old secretary on their desk…especially not in the middle, which signifies she's very important."

"She was my old secretary," Perry insisted. "But she was also my…my best friend." That wasn't all Della was to him, but he'd already revealed more than he planned. He definitely wasn't going to tell Nancy that he and Della had been involved…at least until his _big mistake_. He wasn't even sure what they were anymore. He hadn't spoken to her since he moved out to San Francisco. He'd been too chicken to call her and he wouldn't even know what to say anymore.

"Well, good grief, why don't you just invite her out here, Mr. Mason?" Nancy questioned.

Perry shrugged. "There's no reason to."

Nancy rolled her eyes. She was beginning to suspect there was something more than just friendship, but she had already done enough questioning today. "A person doesn't need a reason to invite their best friend to visit them. But if you really need a reason…does she not celebrate Independence Day?" Nancy turned on her heel after that and walked out of his office.

Perry then remembered that the Fourth of July was in two weeks. Of course! He could have kind of a housewarming party. He could invite a few judges from around here, Nancy, Paul and his family, but most importantly, Della. That was definitely what he would do! A smile bloomed on his face until he remembered one thing. Inviting her required calling her. He couldn't just call her up after three months of nothing. He closed his eyes. What was he going to do?

_Well, after the first chapter, what do you think? Will it be good, will it be bad? Let me know in a review so I can know whether to continue! Review if you want and thanks for reading! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I still don't own these characters. I own any and all mistakes. I hope there aren't too many. _

_ A/N: I really really appreciate the response I got from the last chapter! All the reviews just made me smile. And since everyone told me to continue…here comes chapter 2. I haven't killed anyone! As of right now, Paul Drake is still alive, along with Lt. Tragg and Burger. You didn't need to know all of that for this chapter, but I thought I'd bring it up for future reference. Paul is in this chapter though! Enjoy!_

"Perry!" Paul greeted him. "What's been going on with you?"

"Not too much," Perry admitted. Being a judge was fun for a little while and he still loved helping innocent people, but he liked to take a more active role.

"The routine already boring you?" Paul asked, knowing his friend.

"Absolutely not," Perry lied. Paul might know he was lying, but Perry didn't care. He had a different purpose for this conversation. "What are you all doing for the fourth?"

Paul sighed. "We're not really sure yet. We were thinking about going to dinner with Della, but overall we don't having anything exciting going."

"Well, then, I have a proposition for you," Perry said.

Paul raised his eyebrows with interest. "Go on."

"I've decided to have kind of a housewarming/Fourth of July party," Perry explained. "I was going to invite a few people I've met from up here and I was wondering if you all and Della would like to come."

"That sounds like it would work," Paul mused. "I know Paul would love to see you. He doesn't talk about it, since he's too old and it's not cool, but I know he misses you. Is Della definitely coming?"

"Well…" Perry stalled. "I haven't exactly called her yet. I was wondering if you would ask her."

"Oh no," Paul refused. "Not a chance, pal! If you want Della to come, you're going to have to call her yourself. I'm not about to get in the middle of this."

"In the middle of what?" Perry asked.

"I don't know," Paul admitted. "But whenever it comes to the two of you, there's always something that a person could get in the middle of."

Perry chuckled softly. He supposed that was true. "Okay, fine. I'll ask her. Are you guys coming regardless though?"

Paul was so tempted to say no. He was so tempted to tell him they would only come if Della did, but Paul knew that wouldn't be fair. "I suppose we will."

"Alright," Perry said. "I'll reserve your room for Friday the 3rd through Sunday the 5th. The party will be on the 4th. I'll also call the airport and have some tickets waiting for you."

"With your credit card?" Paul teasingly asked.

Perry couldn't help it, he had to smile. That question was so very Paul. "Of course."

Paul smiled. "We'll see you on the fourth!"

"Good-bye Paul," Perry said.

By way of parting, Paul said, "You'd better call Della."

Perry rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything else, he was met with a dial tone. Paul had hung up.

-%

Around seven that night, Perry glared at the phone. He hadn't called Della yet, because he wasn't sure where she worked now. At least, that was a great excuse. Of course, she would be home now, he hardly thought her boss kept the hours he did, and now he had no excuse not to call her.

He continued to glare at the phone. He had tried to call her a few times tonight, but never got further than the sixth number. He was being a chicken. Perry hadn't spoken to her since he moved out here. During the first month there was just _so _much to do with his judgeship being so new (of course, if Della had been helping him it wouldn't have seemed half as bad). After the first month, he figured he'd been silent for too long and he was afraid she'd probably be mad, since he hadn't talked to her in so long. Now though, he had to call.

Perry had exhausted all his options. He had thought about just not inviting her to the party, but that would have disastrous consequences all around. Paul would be disappointed in him and wouldn't ever let him live that down. Paul might also mention the party to Della and Della would be hurt that she wasn't invited. Perry didn't want to hurt Della anymore than he already had after moving out here, which he affectionately classified_ big mistake_.

The big thought that kept him from picking up the phone was her possible refusal. Of course, there was also starting the conversation. What was he supposed to say to her? "Why, hello Della. How have you been?" He didn't think that would be acceptable after three months of not speaking to her.

He picked up the phone again. Perry was going to do it this time. He _had_ to do it this time. He began to dial.

_Am I evil? I think I probably am. I'm sorry! I debated with myself for a long time about ending it here, but in the end I just had to do it. Sorry this chapter is so short too. If you want another one quick…review! The quicker I get reviews, the quicker I post…theoretically. Please review and thanks for reading! _


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I still don't own. And it's doubtful that I ever will. _

_A/N: Okay, a few things need to be said. First of all, there is more to Perry moving than meets the eye. Don't get mad at him for what he may or may not say to Della in their conversation. Of course, it may be a while until you get the whole moving story, but there has to be some suspense! So, just keep that in mind. Also, feel privileged, you get two chapters for the price of one. I put two together because I decided the phone conversation wasn't long enough and I did want to have this up yesterday afternoon…and I didn't like the place I was going to split it up. Okay, now, after these rambles, enjoy! _

"Hello?"

Perry was sure his heart stopped when he heard her voice. He couldn't say anything. He tried, but he couldn't get his vocal cords to cooperate.

"Hello?" Della asked again.

Perry was finally able to speak. "Hi."

Della drew in a sharp breath. She knew who it was and almost couldn't believe it. Why was he calling her? Three months of nothing and then out of the blue he calls. She wondered if something was wrong. There was so much she wanted to ask, but her mouth could only form one word. "Perry?"

"Hello, Della," Perry said, his mind finally able to catch up with his physical reaction at hearing her voice. "How have you been?" Okay, so maybe his mind hadn't exactly caught up yet. That was what he _wasn't _going to say.

"I've been okay," Della said, blinking. She was still trying to register that it was Perry's voice on the phone and he was calling her. "How about you?"

"Okay," Perry agreed. He couldn't help but realize she hadn't said she'd been _fine_. He wasn't sure if that meant anything, but right now he couldn't handle thinking about much more. He was going to analyze that at a later date.

Della couldn't help but smile. "Routine boring you already?"

Perry smiled as well. This woman knew him so well. _Why_ did he ever think he could live without her? "A little."

"I think it's more than a little," Della guessed. "But I'm sorry. Maybe it'll get better?"

"Maybe," Perry agreed. "What are you doing in two weeks, for the fourth?"

"I'm not really sure," Della honestly told him. "I assume Paul and company are going to bug me to go out to dinner with them. I might go watch the fireworks after."

"Could I talk you out of that course of action?" Perry asked.

Della felt her guard falling away. She knew she had to be careful, she couldn't let this happen. Of course, she didn't have to be as careful on the phone since he couldn't see her and wouldn't be able to read her, but she was needed to be careful, regardless, she couldn't let herself get used to him. She decided she would be careful… right after this phone call. "What did you have in mind?"

"What do you mean?" Perry questioned.

"Well, you don't think I can just agree blindly do you?" Della asked while laughing. "Surely you know you've taught me better. I have to know what you are going to use to lure me away from my planned evening."

Perry smiled, loving her tone and loving the teasing. It made him feel like he was back in time, back before his _big mistake_. "I was hoping you could come out to San Francisco. I'm having a party, celebrating the fourth, but I'm also calling it a housewarming party. I'm inviting a few people from here and 'Paul and company' have already agreed to come."

Della bit her lip. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She did not want to see him. It wasn't that she didn't miss him, because _God_, she did. It was just, if she saw him, she was afraid all her defenses would fall. She would let herself remember the times they had together and she wouldn't want to leave. Of course, she would have to; there was nothing she could do for him or herself in San Francisco. When she did leave, she would be crushed again, just as she had been when he'd left without looking back. She was finally feeling more like herself again and now he was pushing this on her. Good grief, sometimes she hated this man.

All her thoughts were contradicting though. She did want to see him and she did miss him like crazy. She wasn't sure it would be such a bad thing if her defenses fell. It might be nice to remember how it was back then and go back in time for a weekend. Maybe she could start to visit more and she wouldn't be as crushed when she had to leave. She narrowed her eyes at herself. She was sure she still loved him and that was a thought she was trying to push from her mind forever!

Della decided she had been quiet long enough. She sighed. She might as well go. She didn't want to be totally alone on the fourth and if Paul and his family were going then she really would have no one to spend the holiday with. She could work if she was going to spend the holiday with no one, but that didn't really sound appealing. She was sure if she stayed home, she would be thinking of what could be going on at his house right now and wishing she was there.

"Della?" Perry asked, after she hadn't said anything for a few seconds. "Are you still there?"

"I'm still here," Della assured him. "You've talked me out of my plans. I'll come to your party for the fourth."

Perry couldn't stop a huge grin from overtaking his face. _Yes!_ "Okay, well I'll call the hotel and reserve you a room. I'll also call the airport and have your ticket waiting there for you."

"Make sure you remember how much it all costs," Della told him.

"Not a chance," Perry disagreed.

Della tried to argue, "But—"

"No arguments," Perry insisted. "I'm paying for it."

Della rolled her eyes and again remembered back to three months ago. He may have moved across the state, but he was still the same Perry. "Fine. I'll pay you back somehow."

"I'm sure you will," Perry said, knowing she wouldn't. He also knew she knew she wouldn't. "See you soon."

"Bye," Della said.

-%

Della sighed as she hung up the phone. She had just agreed to go see Perry in two weeks. She couldn't believe she had let herself do that. It was probably the stupidest thing she could've done. She may want to go back in time for a little while, but she didn't want to relive the day he left. That's what she would be doing when she had to leave San Francisco on the 5th, the day after his party. She shook her head. Why couldn't she ever resist that man?

Her phone rang and she stared at it for a second. Maybe Perry was calling to cancel? She laughed at herself. If she believed that, she really had been away from him for too long. She knew nothing short of a tragedy would make him cancel and she definitely didn't want that.

Della silenced the phone by picking it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Beautiful," Paul greeted her.

Della smiled at the greeting. In all the years she had worked for Perry and even after he left, she and Paul still kept in touch and he had never stopped calling her beautiful.

"Hi, Paul," Della said. "What's going on with you?"

"Oh, nothing much," Paul said. He realized he didn't think this call out very well. He wasn't sure what to say about the fourth without giving anything away. If Perry hadn't called her yet, he couldn't say much. He definitely couldn't ask her if Perry called, because that would make her suspicious. He hoped Perry had already called, if he hadn't, Paul would have to call him and try to push him into doing it. The problem was figuring out if he had or not.

"Go ahead and ask," Della prompted Paul.

"What?" Paul questioned.

Della rolled her eyes. "You want to know if Perry called and if I'm going to his party."

Paul smiled. Good for Perry, at least he'd called. "Well, are you?"

Della sighed. "Against my better judgment, yes."

"Against your better judgment?" Paul wondered.

"You know he's just getting bored up there. He wants a reminder of what it was like when he was the best lawyer in L.A. and we're the best reminder he can get. He wants to remember the good old days," Della explained.

Now, Paul was the best detective in the business and he knew that was not the reason. In fact, even before he asked, he knew Della wouldn't tell him the real reason. He was pretty sure he knew the real reason, so he wasn't even sure why he asked. "Did you ever think he just misses us and wants to see us?"

"No," Della answered quickly. That was just one of the many thoughts she was trying not to think about since Perry called. There had been many before and his call had just added more.

"Well, you'd better make sure you show up at that airport on the 3rd," Paul told her. "If you don't, I'm going to show up at your house and drag you there."

"I'll be there, Paul," Della assured him with a small eye roll. He had always been way too interested in her and Perry's affairs. Even now, when she wasn't sure if anything was going on between them he was still interested and still looking for some good gossip.

Paul decided to fish for a reaction. "You'd better be. I'm not going to be the one to tell Perry that you aren't coming. He would just be so upset."

Della narrowed her eyes. She schooled her voice to sound incredibly sweet. "Do you want me to hang up on you, Paul?"

Paul began to laugh. He loved hearing her reactions to his teasing about Perry. It had been much too long since he had gotten her angry about Perry. He missed it. "Aww, you wouldn't do that, now would you?"

"It's questionable," Della muttered. She realized Paul had been fishing for a good reaction. She couldn't believe she gave him one. She wasn't looking for his tricks and was out of practice.

Paul chuckled. "I know you better than that, Beautiful. You know you love me."

Della smiled. She did love him, regardless of what he did. "Again, that's questionable."

"One of these days you're going to give me a complex!" Paul teased.

"If you don't have one now, I think you'll be okay," Della told him.

"I'll see you at the airport in a few weeks?" Paul inquired one last time.

"Yes, you will," Della assured him. Despite all her misgivings, she wasn't going to chicken out and not go.

"Bye, Beautiful," Paul said.

Della shook her head. "Bye, Paul."

Della hung up the phone with a smile on her face. Paul always made things look just a bit better. Paul would be there on Friday to help her forget her nerves. She would have Paul and his family to talk to at the party and if things went bad, Paul would be there and would know just what to say. Not to mention if she was sad on Sunday, Paul would be there to cheer her up. She also knew he wouldn't say anything about leaving San Francisco, knowing that's what had her down. Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad after all.

_ Well, what did you think? Did Della and Perry's call live up to your expectations. Remember what I said at the beginning…there's more to Perry moving than meets the eye. And what did you think of Della and Paul? I just had to add that in there somewhere, I just love Paul and Della and their interactions too much! Please drop me a review and thanks for reading! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I haven't stumbled upon rights to Perry Mason in the last few days. I do own Nancy though. She's an okay character to own if I can't have Perry, Della and Paul. _

_A/N: Sorry, this took longer than I had hoped. It's kind of a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoy it at least. It may not clear up all of you questions, but hopefully it will make you feel a little better about things? _

"So, what are you doing the fourth?" Perry asked Nancy the next morning.

"Nothing right now, but I'm sure you're about to change that," Nancy said with a smile.

Perry chuckled. "I'm having a Fourth of July/housewarming party and you're invited."

Nancy raised her eyebrows. "I thought you were going to invite the girl in the picture out here for the fourth?"

"I am," Perry assured her. "But I'm also inviting Paul and his family," Perry turned around the picture on his desk so she could see to whom he was referring. "And Judge Henry Fenwick and Judge Tracy Stallings from here."

Nancy was still unsure. She felt like she was in the middle of a Jerry Springer old secretary meets new secretary episode. "And she won't mind that I'm there?"

Perry shook his head. "I'm sure she would love to meet you."

Nancy bit her lip. "Well…okay. But if she doesn't want me there, I'm leaving."

Perry rolled his eyes. "That won't happen."

"If you say so, Mr. Mason," Nancy said. "Now, did you have an opinion you needed to dictate? You have to be in court in an hour. The State of California vs. Betty Giddings."

Perry sighed. Back to the real world. "Yes, I have the opinion from Valerie High vs. Melissa Tabor. Are you ready?"

Nancy sat down in a chair, her pencil poised over her pad of paper. "Whenever you are."

-%

Della was having a hard time staying still. She had gotten to the airport way too early. She knew she was going to be early when she left, but she was afraid she was going to get caught in traffic. She hadn't, so as a result she had been roaming around for at least thirty minutes with nothing to do. She rolled her eyes at herself. For someone who didn't want to see Perry her actions were sure contradicting that.

"Della!" a voice shouted.

She turned and saw Little Paul running toward her. "Hi, Little Paul."

He stopped when he got closer and frowned. "I'm thirteen years old. Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

Della chuckled. "It's doubtful."

"I haven't seen you in so long!" Little Paul exclaimed.

Della smiled. "You saw me a month ago. In fact, it was a little less than a month."

"Yeah, but when Perry was here you guys used to come over at least once a week," Little Paul reminded her. "Or more."

"Paul!" Paul Drake said, finally reaching them.

Little Paul gasped. "Sorry, Dad!"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Go with your mother and get our tickets." He turned to Della. "Sorry. I must've told him ten times there was no need to mention that. But he's just like his mother, he talks too much!"

Della smiled, grateful at Paul's protectiveness, even though she didn't necessarily need it. "It's fine. I hope he doesn't want to follow in your footsteps and be a detective too."

Paul sighed. "Well he does, but I just don't know if it's going to happen." Little Paul walked back over to him with the tickets. Paul captured his son in his arms. "If we can just calm down his mother's mouth!"

"I resent that!" Eve exclaimed joining the trio. "How are you, Della? It's been so long since we've seen you."

Della sighed. She decided not to even go into the specifics. Either way, it was apparently too long. "I've been doing okay. I'll try to make sure I don't leave so much space in between my visits to you all."

Eve nodded in satisfaction. "It would be greatly appreciated."

Paul sighed in exasperation. It really hadn't been that long since they'd seen Della. They were just all spoiled because when Perry was here they were always doing things together. Now that Perry didn't have a practice in L.A., they weren't able to see each other as much. "Let's board the plane."

-%

Paul looked over at Della. "Would you please calm down?"

"I'm fine," Della lied. She wasn't stellar, but she wasn't exactly nervous yet. She planned to save that for tomorrow. Right now, she was just anxious. She wanted to get to San Francisco and then stay in her room for the rest of the night.

"If you're fine, then why is your foot bouncing?" Paul asked. Della was not one to fidget. She was always pretty still and the only time Paul had ever seen her be restless was when she was nervous or anxious. Definitely not when she was fine.

Della glanced at her foot and forced it to be still. She then looked at Paul and gestured to the open magazine in his lap. "Don't you have something to read?"

Paul chuckled and looked away from Della. That was her not-so-polite way of telling him to mind his own business. She always did come up with some crafty ways to say things. Paul was glad Perry hadn't completely destroyed her when he left without a backwards glance. Of course, if that had happened, she wouldn't be Della.

On the other hand, Paul knew Della was hurting. She may do a fantastic job of hiding it, but he could tell things weren't the same. Her eyes were just a bit sadder and the light in her smile wasn't as bright as it used to be. The only reason Paul noticed these things was because he knew her so well.

"Please fasten your seatbelts, passengers, we are beginning our descent into San Francisco," a voice said over the loudspeakers. The clicking of seatbelts was heard all around and out of the corner of his eye, Paul saw Della's foot begin to bounce again, seeming to be an unconscious movement on her part. He also heard her take in a deep breath. Paul narrowed his eyes and tried to tamp down his anger. He was going to have to work very hard to not chew out Perry as soon as he saw him. He hoped he could manage. He didn't want to ruin this weekend. That man could definitely be an idiot sometimes though.

-%

"Mr. Paul Drake?" the man at the hotel desk asked.

"Yes, that's me," Paul answered.

"You have a message here from a Mr. Perry Mason," the man told Paul. "It says for you to call him as soon as you arrive, at this number." The man handed over the piece of paper with the number written down.

Paul looked at his companions. "Hold on one second while I make the phone call." He looked at Della. "You too."

Della rolled her eyes. She was planning on waiting before he got smart with her. She almost wanted to leave now just to show him up, but knew there was no way Eve and Little Paul would let her. She shook her head. Of course coming to San Francisco with Paul would be a chore.

_So, what did you think? Now, I'm not saying that Paul and company and Della never see each other, I'm just saying they probably saw each other a looooot more when Perry was in L.A. I also need to mention that as much as Paul is angry at Perry, he's not going to do anything in front of his family or in front of Della and he probably won't get into it on the phone. Just an FYI for the chapters to come. I just feel like if Paul was going to get really angry he'd wait until he and Perry were alone. Makes sense? If not, I'll try to modify the next chapters…I suppose. If you read and liked (or didn't) please leave me a review! Thanks so much for reading! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I still don't own all of this. _

_A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. LIB, I threw a couple lines in here for you, so I hope you like it! Enjoy! _

"Mr. Perry Mason, please," Paul said to the young woman who answered the phone.

"Just a moment, I'll put you through," the woman said back.

"Paul!" Perry boomed into the phone.

Paul smiled, regardless of how angry he might be right now. "Hey, Perry. How are you?"

Perry avoided the question, knowing Paul was just engaging in small talk. At this point, Perry didn't care about small talk anymore. "How are you guys? Did everything go okay?"

"The plane ride was good," Paul informed Perry. "We're all pretty good. I think ready to freshen up and rest though."

"Well, I'm going to leave work today around six," Perry said. "Do you guys want to go to dinner with me? We could just go to the hotel restaurant so you all wouldn't have to get out. The food there is pretty good."

Paul shook his head. "Well, Eve, Paul and I will go, but I can guarantee Della won't come."

"Why?" Perry asked. He was disappointed, but had sort of expected that response.

Paul rolled his eyes. "After what you did, you'll be lucky if she comes to your party tomorrow."

Perry closed his eyes. "I deserved that. But can't you at least ask her?"

"No," Paul said. "She won't come."

"How do you know?" Perry asked.

"I just know," Paul told Perry.

"I object," Perry said. "Begging the question."

Paul pressed his lips together and tried very hard not to burst out laughing. As much as Perry infuriated him with the stupid things he did, he had missed this man. "Literary fallacy, Your Honor, no grounds for legal objection."

Perry chuckled. "You, Eve and Little Paul should still meet me for dinner, even if Della won't come."

Paul nodded. "Alright, we will. What time?"

"Say around seven?" Perry questioned.

"That should work," Paul agreed. Suddenly Paul got an idea. Granted, it may not be the best idea he ever had and was sure it would probably get him killed by Della herself, but he didn't care. "Would you like to talk to Della?"

"Does she want to talk to me?" Perry asked. The real answer to Paul's question was _God, yes_, but he didn't want to force himself on Della in any way if she didn't want to talk to him.

Paul shrugged. "I'm not sure, but she will." He pulled the phone away from his ear and pretended not to hear Perry's heated objections. "Della, Perry wants to talk to you."

Perry heard what Paul said and rolled his eyes. He would have to clear that up when she came on the line. This was so very Paul. Of course inviting Paul out here with Della would turn out to be an adventure.

Della sighed. Did she want to talk to Perry? She wasn't exactly sure. Then again, what harm could talking to him on the telephone cause? She walked over to Paul and took the phone from his hand. She glared at him until he walked away from her. She shook her head as an amused smile played around her lips. "Hello."

"You know Paul is setting us up, right?" Perry asked. "I do want to talk to you, but only if you want to talk to me. We can hang up if you want."

The smile finally broke through on her face. Oh, this man. "It's fine. I'm not totally surprised at Paul anyway. This is exactly something he would do. Coming out here to visit you with him has definitely been interesting."

"I am sorry about that," Perry apologized. "I did want him to come though and I made the reservations for the tickets at the same time. Besides, I thought you'd be more comfortable sitting with them on the plane anyway."

Della couldn't help but laugh slightly. "I'm a big girl, Perry. I've been travelling by myself for quite some time now. I'd go as far as to say I'm quite good at it. I can even get through an airport terminal all by myself."

Perry full out laughed. He did love this woman with everything in him, even still. "I know, I know. I just figured since you all were coming from Los Angeles it would be easier to sit together. I did think you'd enjoy it a bit though."

Della was still smiling. "Oh, it's fine. It's been fun. Speaking of, did you invite no one else from Los Angeles?"

"If I though Burger would've come I probably would've considered inviting him," Perry said with a smile, remembering the process he went through trying to decide what to do. "Overall though, I decided not to go to the trouble of having him refuse, or come out of obligation. I did call Tragg though. He sounded like he would've liked very much to come, but he claims he's much too old to travel, especially on an airplane. He said if I ever come back to Los Angeles for a visit I should make it a point to visit him. He did agree with my decision about Burger though."

"Did he say how boring life's been without you?" Della asked, teasingly.

Perry shook his head. "He said he's rather glad to have me out of his hair, though I'm not sure how much of that was said for appearance rather than truth. He said Burger's having a much easier time winning cases. I do think he misses our sparring matches though. I believe those were his favorite parts of all cases."

"Oh, I doubt that," Della disagreed. "I think he loved almost arresting you and everyone associated with you even more than sparring with you."

Perry smiled, remembering the few times Della was arrested or the times he came close to being arrested for harboring a witness or information or something similar. "Of course, how could I forget that?"

"I have no idea," Della answered coyly. "Maybe because I was always the one you were leaving to get arrested! You had to spring me more times than I care to count right now."

Perry knew she was teasing, so he didn't address that part of her statement. He decided to try his luck. "So, Paul and company are going to have dinner with me at the hotel restaurant tonight. You're welcome to join if you would like."

Della bit her lip. Sure, she was comfortable joking with him in a phone conversation and she was even feeling more like her old self, like nothing had ever changed, but she just wasn't sure she was ready to see him just yet. She needed another night to get ready for that. "Thanks for offering, but I think I'll just stay in tonight. I'm rather tired from the plane ride and dodging Paul's interested questions. I need to be completely alert tomorrow for your party. If I know you, it's going to be amazing, but a tiring experience all in itself."

Perry smiled. "That it will be. Oh, by the way, my new secretary, Nancy Swift is going to be there."

"Okay," Della said, unsure as to why he was telling her this. He didn't need to clear his guest list with her. She had no qualms with meeting his new secretary, just as long as they didn't talk about things she would rather not think about…like working for him.

"Nancy was a bit worried that you wouldn't want her there," Perry clarified, knowing she was wondering about the logic. "I told her you wouldn't care. You don't care, do you?"

"Not at all," Della assured him. "I would actually really like to meet her." Della conveniently left out the little fact that she had already talked to the girl on the phone and she seemed very sweet, though Nancy didn't know who she was at the time.

"Alright," Perry agreed. "I have to dictate a few opinions before I leave for the day and if I want to be on time for the dinner with Paul and company, I'd better get to that. It was good to talk to you, Della."

"It was good to talk to you too, Perry," Della agreed, surprised at how much she actually meant that. She had been wary of it at first, but she was infinitely glad she had agreed to talk to him. It had reminded her of earlier years and reassured her that tomorrow wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe they could fall into old habits easily. Hopefully it would be just as easy to fall out of them.

"See you tomorrow, Della," Perry said by way of parting.

"Tomorrow," Della agreed.

When Della hung up and looked back over towards the desk she saw only Paul standing there. She walked over to him. "Where did the wife and child go?"

Paul smiled. "They went on upstairs to the room to freshen up and rest a bit before our dinner tonight."

"Oh, yes," Della said, remembering the dinner Perry had told her about. "And you didn't go with them because…"

"I wanted to give you your room key," Paul said.

"Why, thank you, Paul," Della gushed, with false enthusiasm. "I'm not sure how I would've managed had you not been here. I don't think I would've known what to do. Do you think you could show me where my room is? I don't think I'll be able to find it on my own."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, that's enough. I also wanted to watch your luggage. We wouldn't want any of it stolen, though I'm not sure anyone could lift it long enough to steal it."

Della smiled picking up her bags very easily. "Looks like you're just a wimp."

"I can feel that complex coming on," Paul whined with laughter lacing his voice.

"Oh, Paul," Della sighed.

Paul and Della began to walk to the elevator. "So, did you have fun talking to Perry?" Paul asked with a gleam in his eye.

"It was fine," Della said nonchalantly. She was _not_ going to give Paul the satisfaction of gloating or anything he might try right now.

"I saw you laughing," Paul told her. "It looked like it was more than fun. Did he finally apologize?"

Della turned to Paul with a glare in his eye and he held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I was just pointing out a fact and asking a normal question."

"Well, it would be greatly appreciated if you would refrain from pointing out those facts in the future," Della told him. "You could also keep your questions to yourself." She wasn't going to tell him Perry didn't need to apologize. She wasn't going to tell him there were other factors present that he didn't know about. They had arrived at her floor and at her room (which was across the hall from the Drake's). She went inside her room and closed the door without a backwards glance toward Paul.

Paul couldn't help but smile as he walked into his room. She was going to have fun this weekend whether she knew it or wanted to admit it or not. He didn't know what he hoped to come from this weekend, but he hoped something happened. He didn't want her to go back to L.A. and Perry to stay here without something changing!

_Well, there it is. I know I said Paul wasn't going to get into it on the phone, but he really didn't. He just snarked at Perry for being an idiot. At least, because he thinks Perry was an idiot. As I keep hinting at…there's more than meets the eye. Please review and thanks for reading! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I'm still not Erle Stanley Gardner, so I still don't own. _

_ A/N: And, here's the dinner. Well, part of it at least. I think this may the biggest role Little Paul is going to have. Also, thanks to Likes It Bubbly for a line I used! I hope you all enjoy! _

"But, Dad, I'm angry!" Little Paul said.

Paul rolled his eyes. "I know you are, but good detectives don't let people know they're mad. They also keep their mouth shut about it!"

"Being a good detective is such hard work!" Little Paul complained.

Eve chuckled. "Only for you."

"Well, well," a voice sounded from behind.

The family turned around and saw Perry Mason. Paul and Eve smiled. Even Little Paul couldn't suppress a smile at seeing him.

Eve hurried to him and gave him a hug. "It's been much too long, Perry."

Perry hugged her back. "I know and I'm sorry. There's just been so much to do up here because my judgeship is so new."

Perry and Eve joined Paul and his son. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," Paul semi-joked. He was still a little angry, and still looking for a chance to really give Perry what he deserved, but he wasn't trying to ruin the dinner. Besides, he had missed Perry as well.

Perry raised his eyebrow at his old friend. "I could say the same about you."

In the next second the two friends were smiling at each other and even gave each other a (very manly, of course) hug.

Perry looked at Little Paul. "How have you been, Little Paul?"

Little Paul sighed. "Fine. You'd think I'd have grown out of that name by now. I am thirteen you know." When Paul caught his son's eye, Little Paul added, "But I guess if Della's still going to call me that, it's only right that you do too."

Paul rolled his eyes at Little Paul for mentioning Della. "Let's get a table." He hoped his son could keep his comments to himself for the rest of the night. Somehow, though, he doubted that.

-%

"Alright, spill," Perry commanded. "I know something's wrong."

Little Paul looked away from Perry's eyes to watch his parents dance. He wasn't sure why they left him, knowing how he felt, but they did just the same. He rested his chin in his hand as he answered, "Nothing's wrong."

Perry shook his head. "I don't believe it. I think you have a secret."

"I don't have a secret," Little Paul insisted. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Why not?" Perry asked. "You used to tell me a lot of things."

"Yeah, well, that was before," Little Paul said.

Perry raised his eyebrows. "Before what?"

Little Paul tore his eyes away from his parents to glare at Perry. "Just before."

Perry knew something was wrong for sure now and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He knew enough not to assume though and to let the person he was questioning tell him for himself. He also knew how to get them to answer as well. "Little Paul…"

"Before you left!" Little Paul exclaimed. "Before you decided we weren't good enough for you anymore and decided a life here being a judge would be much more fun. Is it everything you hoped for? I bet it isn't. Maybe it is fun, but you definitely left a lot in Los Angeles. Do you eat out a lot now? You don't have Mom to cook you good dinners anymore. I also don't know how you figure anything out anymore, since Dad isn't your chief private investigator. Do you have one up here? If you do, I would bet everything he's not as good as Dad."

"No one is as good as your father," Perry admitted. "But I don't need a private investigator being a judge. I don't get to figure anything out anymore. It's my job to listen to what the prosecution and the defense think they've figured out. They are the ones in need of the investigator."

"Okay, that's true," Little Paul agreed. "But you still need a secretary."

"Not as much," Perry told the child. "But I have one."

Little Paul's eyes narrowed even more. "You don't have the right one."

Perry was beginning to see that this wasn't exactly about him leaving, but more about whom and what he left. He also knew this boy was more like his father than he knew and was pretty sure Little Paul didn't care that he was the one left behind. "And who is the 'right one?'"

"Who do you think?" Little Paul questioned. "Della, of course. You know, when Dad told me you left and went gallivanting off to San Francisco to be a judge I knew I was going to miss you and Della, but when Dad told me Della didn't go with you, I didn't believe it. But then Della came over to eat dinner with us the next day and I had to believe it."

"What happened when Della came over to dinner?" Perry asked.

"Nothing!" Little Paul cried. "And it's only about the third time she's come to dinner since you left. You guys used to come over every week. If you didn't eat dinner I would at least see you every week. I still talk to Della every week, but she doesn't come over as much anymore. When she does, she's not really the same Della Street either. Sure, it's not a huge change and she definitely doesn't want us to think anything about her has changed, but it has. Just so you know, it's all _your _fault. She doesn't laugh as much anymore and her smile always looks a bit forced. Her eyes aren't as bright as they used to be and the subject of you is like taboo. Mom and Dad just don't talk about it and I'm not allowed to mention it. Every time I do, you should see the look I get from Dad. Then he is quick to send me out of the room and change the subject. I can tell that she doesn't like to talk about it either and her eyes always get a bit sadder when I mention your name.

"So, yes, I guess you were right when you asked what was wrong, because there is something wrong. I _am_ angry that you left me and I never get to talk to you anymore. You don't even call us anymore. But that really isn't the biggest problem. You definitely hurt other people more than you hurt me. I thought you were a better person than that. I didn't think you would just leave without a backwards glance and without a care about who you hurt. It's obvious I was wrong though. I haven't forgiven you, and I'm not sure that I will," Little Paul finished.

Perry slowly nodded and tried to take it all in. He had no idea this kid was harboring so much anger toward him. He was glad though that Little Paul had told him about it. He was also right when he figured Little Paul was angrier about what he thought Perry had done to Della than what Perry had done to him. Yep, he was definitely almost exactly like his father.

"Dad's going to kill me," Little Paul whispered.

"Why?" Perry wondered.

"Because I wasn't supposed to tell you how angry I was. 'A good detective keeps his mouth shut and doesn't let people know how angry he is,'" Little Paul quoted his father.

Perry smiled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, back when I was a defense attorney I got confessions out of lots of people. When I decided I wanted to know what was going on, you really didn't stand a chance."

Little Paul sighed. He knew Perry was right, but he knew his dad would still be disappointed in him. "I think I'm going to head back upstairs to our room, I'd rather not be here when Dad comes back and finds out I told you everything."

"Alright," Perry agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Little Paul."

Little Paul gave a slight eye roll at the name. "I'll see you tomorrow."

_Well, Little Paul gave it to Perry. For all of those who were hoping that would happen, I hope this suffices. In the next chapter Perry is going to give you the bare minimum of what actually happened. Sooo….stay tuned! Please review…so I can continue faster and thanks for reading! _


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Do I own the characters? Nope. _

_A/N: Well, here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for…or so I assume. The bare minimum of what actually happened when Perry left! I hope it was worth the wait. It's making me suuuuuuper nervous, so I hope it's good. The nerves are what made the wait so long. I'm sorry. Enjoy! _

Perry was deep in thought when Paul and Eve came back over to the table. Paul looked around. "Where's my son?"

"He went back upstairs," Perry told Paul.

_"One down, one to go," _thought Paul. Now, if he could just get Eve to leave he could really tear into Perry about leaving Della.

Perry had no desire to waste much time with small talk, so he dove right in. "What do you think happened between Della and me when I left?"

"I'll kill him," Paul muttered.

Perry rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile just a bit. It seemed Little Paul was right. "Don't kill Little Paul. Besides, I needed to know he's still angry at me. So, what do you think happened?"

"It doesn't really matter," Paul said.

"Oh but it does," Perry argued. "Tell me."

Paul sighed. "The same thing that happened with us. You told her you were leaving a day before you left, then left the next morning without a backwards glance, without a care."

Perry slowly nodded, though not necessarily in an accepting manner. "No wonder. Is that what she told you?"

"She didn't have to tell us," Paul said. "I just knew."

Perry shook his head. "You just assumed. What have I always told you about assuming? This is why I deal in facts."

Eve suddenly smiled. "You were wrong, Paul. I _told_ you Perry wouldn't just drop Della like that."

Perry's eyes widened. "You thought I could do that to her? Just drop her? Not care that I was leaving her behind?"

Paul averted his eyes and softly cleared his throat. "What did happen?"

"I knew I got the judgeship a week before I told you I was leaving. I didn't accept it right away. I told Della as soon as it happened and asked her to come with me. I told her she could be my secretary, she could be my wife, she could be anything she wanted as long as she would come with me," Perry explained. "She said no."

"Oh, Perry," Eve whispered.

"What?" Paul exclaimed. "You asked her to come with you?"

Perry tried to hide his smirk at Paul's shock. "Yes."

"When she said no, why didn't you stay?" Paul asked.

"You know Della," Eve said, before Perry had a chance to answer. "She probably told him to go. She probably threatened him with something if he didn't go. She knew this was something he wanted."

Paul looked to Perry for conformation and Perry nodded. "It didn't matter though. I should've stayed. Leaving was…a horrible mistake. I thought maybe everything would be okay, but that wasn't the case. Everything has been so very wrong."

Paul shook his head in amazement. "Perry, I think I owe you a huge apology. I'm so sorry. I guess I was just angry that you left when things were going so well for you. I should've known you wouldn't have left Della without a fight. I'll make sure Paul apologizes too."

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Little Paul," Perry said.

"Why?" Paul asked. He was asking a lot of questions tonight. It seemed that nothing was ever simple when it came to Perry.

"He's angry," Perry said. "I'm sure most of his anger is directed at me because he thinks I left Della. If you tell him what really happened, well, he might be angry at Della and she doesn't need that. It wasn't her fault."

Paul raised his eyebrows. He disagreed with Perry on a number of those points, but when he saw Eve's look he acquiesced. "Okay, we won't tell him."

Perry looked at his watch discreetly. "It's getting pretty late and since tomorrow is going to be a crazy day, I guess we should go our separate ways."

Paul looked at his watch while Eve stretched over to see the time as well. They both agreed and got up. Paul and Eve were walking Perry to the door of the hotel when Paul spoke. "Perry, I really am so sorry about the misunderstanding."

Perry smiled. "Maybe now you'll listen to my advice about not assuming things. It's okay though. I can understand why you thought what you did."

Eve reached up to hug Perry. "Goodbye, Perry."

Paul wrinkled his forehead. "Eve, you're going to see him tomorrow."

She backed away and rolled her eyes at her husband. "I know, but after tomorrow, who knows when I'll see him again. I have to get as many hugs in as I can."

Perry chuckled as Paul shook his head at Eve. "Women. They are crazy. You can't live with them and you can't live without them. You're lucky to have escaped this, Perry."

Eve glared at him and swatted him playfully in the arm. She slapped him harder when she saw the look on Perry's face.

Perry's face had turned sentimental and his eyes almost looked sad. "'Escaping' marriage is not exactly what I had in mind. I'll see you guys tomorrow." After that he saw the valet bring around his car so he gave them a wave and walked to his car.

Eve and Paul watched him drive away. Paul wondered how long he was going to get away with his words to Perry. He knew Eve was going to lecture him; he was just waiting for it. Walking to the elevator, he got his answer. "I can't believe you were so stupid, Paul! We had just finished talking about Della and you go and say something like that! Don't you have any tact?" When Paul said nothing, Eve continued. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Paul shrugged. "I'm just waiting for the eye of the hurricane. Or even better, waiting for the end."

Eve groaned. "Men!"

Paul laughed as the elevator stopped on their floor. They got out and began to walk toward the room. Eve opened the door and held it open for Paul to walk through when he changed his mind midstream. "Go on in, Eve. I'll be there in a little while."

Eve knew her husband better than that. "Oh no, you don't. You're coming in. You are not talking to Della right now."

Paul looked at his watch again. "Oh, come on. It's not that late. I'd bet my life that she's in bed with a good book and a glass of wine, but not really concentrating on the book. She's waiting for me to knock on the door and tell her all about the dinner, because she knows I will. That's what I would be doing regardless, but after what Perry said, I can't not ask her about it!"

Eve sighed, knowing she was trapped. That was exactly like something Paul would do and he was probably right. "Fine. You can ask her about it. Do not, I repeat, _do not _yell at her. If she doesn't want to tell you anything, you come right back."

Paul couldn't help it, he had to roll his eyes. Sometimes he wondered if Eve was his wife or his mother. "Yes, Mother."

Eve glared at him, but walked into their room and shut the door. Paul chuckled then quickly sobered as he walked to Della's door. He couldn't have waited until tomorrow. He had to get some answers and he had to get them tonight!

-%

Della sighed when she heard the knock on her door. She knew it was Paul and though she wasn't exactly engrossed in her book, she had just managed to push Paul's dinner and Perry in general out of her mind. She considered not answering, but she was positive that if she didn't, the knocking would just continue. She quietly groaned as she put on her robe and went to the door.

Opening the door, she rolled her eyes. It was Paul. "Hello, Paul."

Paul didn't even bother with formalities or his cheeky greeting. "Why didn't you tell me!"

Della was confused. Those were not the first words she expected to hear. In fact, she didn't expect to hear those words at all and she honestly had no idea what he was talking about. "Tell you…what?"

"Perry asked you to come with him to San Francisco!" Paul practically shouted.

Della's eyes widened. How did he find out about that? More importantly, how much did he know and how much did she want to tell him. She sighed. She didn't want to, but she surrendered to the inevitable. "Oh, that. Maybe you'd better come inside."

_Next time, you'll hear Della's side of the story and you'll get more details. But, how did you feel about this chapter? Was it everything you've been hoping for? Was it unexpected or expected? I hope I didn't disappoint. Please review and tell me how I did…even if it was a disappointment (if that's the case, I'm very sorry). I would appreciate it if you could take a second to review…thanks for reading! _


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters and I never will_

_A/N: Now, Della's side of the story. How does she perceive what happened between them? Read on to find out! Enjoy! _

Paul stepped just inside Della's door when she invited him in and was still standing there when she closed her door. She moved to her couch to sit down and Paul still hadn't moved. She rolled her eyes. "You aren't going to stand there for this whole conversation. Sit down and tell me how you know what happened."

Paul obeyed. "Little Paul couldn't keep his mouth shut. He was angry that Perry left us, but more importantly left you, and he let Perry know. Little Paul hasn't let it go and I was angry until Perry told Eve and me what actually happened. You know how much Little Paul loves you."

Della shook her head gently and let a small smile appear. "He's more like his father than you realize. You would always give up anything to protect me. You and Perry both."

Paul didn't have the patience for this. "Why didn't you tell me! Perry asked you to come to San Francisco and you said no? And you told him to come anyway!"

"How much do you know?" Della asked, surprised that he knew about that last part.

"The bare minimum," Paul said. "Please explain why, when you knew how mad I was, you didn't say anything!"

Della shrugged. "You didn't ask."

"Oh, please!" Paul exploded.

"Well, you didn't," Della reminded him. "You just assumed. Besides that though, at first I was fine. I knew it was my fault he wasn't here and I didn't need him, or at least that's what I kept telling myself. When I realized how much of an idiot I was and that I should've came with him, what happened between us no longer mattered, it was too late."

"I don't understand why you said no in the first place," Paul told her. "Did you want him to give it up?"

"Oh, Paul," Della sighed. "Of course not! I wanted him to take the judgeship. I would've killed him if he let that opportunity pass by."

"Then why say no?" Paul asked.

Della sighed. "I was much too old to move. I had roots in Los Angeles. It was where I got my first job and where I started working for Perry. It was where I realized I could do something with myself rather than become a wife and a mother, something I didn't think I really wanted anyway. Los Angeles was home. I had made a name for myself there. It was where my job was, where my friends lived, it was…my life. I couldn't just up and move.

"Of course, a few weeks after Perry left, I realized what a fool I had been. I only had a name for myself in connection with Perry. I wasn't Della Street, I was Perry Mason's secretary. I had to look for a new job when Perry left since he was my job, another stupid oversight on my part, and every time I introduced myself they would say, 'Oh, right, Perry Mason's secretary.' They knew me…but it was only in connection with him. You guys lived in Los Angeles, but you were my only friends left there. You and Perry had always been my best friends, aside from Felicity who lives miles away and always has, and now Perry was gone so I only had you and your family. I failed to realize that everything I loved about Los Angeles revolved around Perry. My life revolved around Perry. But when I realized all that, it was too late," Della explained.

Paul knew this girl and normally he would've believed her, believed that. There was something in her eyes though. A hidden shadow, something that was telling him there was more to this story. "There's more," Paul said, nonchalantly. "I want it all."

Della bit her lip. Did she want to tell him? No, she didn't. At the same time though, she knew he did deserve everything. She took a deep breath. "I was scared. I was scared of what this move would mean. This would mean Perry and I were way too serious than I wanted to think we were. I mean, of course I knew we were serious, we had been together for a long time and any other couple would've gotten married and had three children and one on the way at that point, but that's not what I wanted for my life and Perry respected that. He knew I wanted to keep working for him and he knew I didn't want to get married, so even though he never quit asking, he never pressured me. Besides, he knew and I knew he wouldn't have had time for a wife while he was a defense attorney. Who was to say he would going to be as busy being a judge though. He wouldn't have been. He could have a regular nine to five job. He told me I could be his secretary here, but how much would he really need one? Would I get bored with working as his secretary as quickly as he might get bored with the routines of a judgeship. And when we both got bored, who's to say he wouldn't start asking me to marry him again and who's to say he wouldn't use the move as proof that I should marry him?" Della tightly closed her eyes, willing her tears to stay away. "I wouldn't have been able to resist. I wouldn't have wanted to resist. I would've said yes and everything we'd ever had, everything we'd ever worked for would've been ruined."

Paul didn't know what to say. He didn't know if there was anything he could say. He lightly put his hand on Della's knee. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, both her cheeks and eyes were dry.

"And you told him to take it so you didn't have to worry about all of that?" Paul guessed.

Della shook her head. "You and assuming. When are you going to learn that you have to deal in facts."

Paul sighed. She sounded very much like Perry in that moment. "Okay then, give me some facts. Why did you tell him to take the judgeship?"

Della smiled. "This judgeship was what he wanted. You should've seen his face when he told me. He was _so_ excited. I knew he wanted this. He wasn't bored being a defense attorney and he could've gone on for the rest of his life being a defense attorney and he would've been completely content. When he got asked to be the judge though, it was a challenge. He wanted a challenge. He wanted to make a difference as more than just a defense attorney. He wanted to change the world and this job could help him do that. I didn't have a place in his new job, in his new life."

"Oh, come on," Paul said. "You know you had a place. You always have a place where Perry is concerned. If you didn't, Perry would've found a place for you."

"Exactly!" Della exclaimed. "Did you hear yourself? I didn't want him to _find a place_ for me. I wanted it to already be there. If it wasn't, I didn't need to come."

Paul didn't believe her reasoning, but she looked so determined that he wasn't going to argue with her anymore. After all, his reason for coming over here had been fulfilled. He wanted to find out why she said no and why she told Perry to take the judgeship and he had.

Della looked at Paul. He seemed to be working through something in his mind. She waited a few seconds and when he didn't say anything she asked, "Any more questions?"

Paul couldn't help it. He had to laugh. "Not tonight. I'll get out of your way now. See you tomorrow."

Della had been thinking about that earlier that night and she remembered a question she needed to ask Paul. "What time are you guys going to leave tomorrow?"

"We were thinking around 10:30," Paul told her.

"Well, I wasn't planning on leaving until around 11:30," Della informed him. "So, I was thinking, why don't you guys just take a cab and then I'll take my own a bit later."

"We can wait for you," Paul insisted.

"No, no," Della disagreed. "That would be stupid. Besides, I would have to take a different cab anyway, there's four of us and only three people can fit in the back of a cab."

Paul looked at her skeptically. Della suddenly knew what Paul was thinking. "I'll be there, Paul, I promise. I'm not going to skip out on you. I came all the way out here for this party, there's no way I'm missing it."

Paul smiled. "Alright, alright. You'd better be there though. If you aren't there by noon I'm coming back here and dragging you there, kicking and screaming if I have to."

That gave Della such an amusing picture in her head that she laughed out loud. "You'd never drag me kicking and screaming anywhere!"

"I will tomorrow if you don't show up," Paul teased.

Della just shook her head. "Well, I'll be there, but thanks so much for the incentive. If I ever considered not coming, that idea's out of my head now."

Paul's eyes twinkled. "Anything for you, Beautiful. You know that."

Della took in a deep breath at that statement. It brought back too many memories that she wasn't about to deal with right now. She forced a smile to appear on her face and forced her voice to sound jovial. "Bye, Paul!" Della shut the door after that.

Paul frowned at the closed door of Della's room. He wasn't frowning because she shut the door in his face. Things like that were pretty normal from days of working with Perry. She would hang up on him as soon as she said goodbye or shut the door as soon as they were finished speaking. What he was frowning at was the look on her face. Was he just imagining it, or did a shadow cross her face when he called her beautiful? He didn't think that could've been it, he always called her beautiful and she had never cared. He must've been just imagining it. That had to be it.

_Hmmm…did a shadow cross her face? And why? I guess you'll just have to stay tuned! I hope you all enjoyed Della's side of the story. You know…you could review and tell me. Please review and thanks for reading! _


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I don't own very much. DVD's…and that's it! _

_A/N: Well, now you'll find out about the shadow. I hope it's everything for which you've been hoping. It's not too exciting, but it's a nice P/D moment…which have kind of been lacking in this story so far. Enjoy!_

Della let out a deep sigh after she closed the door. She leaned her forehead against the door, squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to cry. This was ridiculous! She had been close to crying way too many times tonight. This was not her! She shook her head in exasperation at herself. The last time she had cried was when Perry left, and even then she didn't let herself wallow. It must be him. That man was always making her cry.

The memory of Perry that was playing just on the edges of Della's mind had appeared in full force many times since he left and she wasn't sure why it was having such an effect on her tonight. She supposed it was being here in San Francisco, being so close to Perry, and yet so far away. Also, Paul had just taken all of her emotions about Perry leaving and scrambled them around. It was going to take a while to put them back in order and she supposed that was why this memory was making her want to cry.

Della tried. She tried so hard to push the memory from her mind, but it wasn't going anywhere. Little pieces kept showing up and finally, for the third time that night, she surrendered. She flopped down on the bed, closed her eyes, let her tears fall and let herself drown in the memories.

_ "It isn't fair!" Perry exclaimed. "Paul calls you 'Beautiful' and you let him! You're not even his girl." _

_ Della rolled her eyes. She wanted to remind Perry that she wasn't anyone's girl, nobody owned her, but she let it slide for now. She was even going to indulge him for a minute or two. "Perry, it doesn't really matter what anyone else calls me, because I'll always be your girl." _

_ Perry smiled. "My beautiful girl. That's what I'll call you." _

_ Della rolled her eyes again at his child-like manner, but she had to smile too. His excitement at deciding that was just too cute. _

_ From then on, he only called her his beautiful girl when he was being promiscuous or when he was teasing her. A month later, all that changed. _

_ Della sighed. She was sitting by Perry's hospital bed. He had gotten shot and was, at the moment, unconscious. He had been this way for at least three hours. Paul had been here, but he went home after about an hour. He didn't want to think about what might happen, and being there didn't exactly help him forget._

_ Della suddenly heard a sound come from the bed. She shot up out of her chair and went over to the bed. "Perry, was that you?" _

_ He opened one eye to look at her. "Della." _

_ She smiled, so glad he was awake. She quickly pushed the call button, which she realized was a mistake. Nurses and doctors filled the room so fast. They were all pushing her back trying to check on Perry and making sure he was okay. Finally the room cleared out and the last doctor left telling Perry he was lucky. _

_ Della moved back over to the bed and looked at Perry through narrowed eyes. "How do you feel? Are you sure you're okay?" _

_ Perry smiled at her concern. "My shoulder hurts like hell, but other than that I promise, darling, I'm fine." _

_ Della's eyes narrowed even more. "You do realize that if you'd gone and died I would've killed you, right?" _

_ Perry almost laughed at the impossibility of that statement, but she really did look mad and he didn't think she would appreciate his amusement, so he managed to stifle the laugh. "Why?" _

_ "Because you were being an idiot!" Della exclaimed. "I can't believe you would be so stupid!" _

_ "I was trying to make sure you didn't get hurt," Perry reminded her. _

_ "Yeah, by jumping in front of a bullet that went wild," Della said. The shooter hadn't been aiming for her. In fact, she still wasn't sure that the crazed man who came into the courtroom carrying a gun had been aiming at anyone. They weren't even working on a case connected with him. The case he was angry about had been tried a day before and he was angry at the judge, angry at lawyers in general and just angry at the world. He'd come into the courtroom and just started shooting. One of the bullets was heading for her and she felt herself being pushed to the ground, Perry being the driving force behind the push. In making sure she got to the ground, the bullet hit him in the shoulder. Della shook her head. "I just don't understand why you did that! Do you know what it would've done to me if you died!" _

_ Perry suddenly became very serious. "Do you know what it would've done to me if _you_ died?" _

_ Della closed her eyes and sighed. "Not fair. I'm supposed to be mad at you right now." _

_ "Mad at me for saving your life?" Perry questioned. _

_ "No, mad at you for being stupid," Della informed him opening her eyes. "The bullet wouldn't have killed me." _

_ "Maybe not," Perry agreed. "But seeing you hurt would've killed me." _

_ Della felt the tears she had been holding in spill out of her eyes. She leaned over the bed and kissed him hard. When he tried to deepen it, she pulled back. She whispered, "I could've gotten out of the way in time…but thank you." _

_ Perry smiled with a small twinkle in his eye. "Anything for you, my beautiful girl. You know that." _

_ Della smiled and kissed him again. This time, when he tried to deepen it she let him and got lost in his kiss, so thankful he was alive._

Della sighed as the memory faded away. Her tears had only multiplied during the recollection and she was getting annoyed. She swiped at her face angrily and turned to lay on her side. She thought about taking her robe off and actually getting under the covers. She also thought about grabbing her book, maybe that would distract her, but before she could act on either of those thoughts, she was sound asleep.

-%

Perry rushed to the doorbell. He smiled when he saw Paul and his family, but his smile quickly faded noticing Della wasn't with them. Perry ushered the family in and hugged Eve and Little Paul. Little Paul and Even then went to explore the house and other guests.

Paul noticed Perry's sadness and quickly whispered, "She said she'd be here around noon."

"Who?" Perry asked trying to be the picture of innocence, but not really pulling it off as well as he had hoped.

Paul rolled his eyes and just walked away.

_How did you feel? I realize it's probably virtually impossible for a crazed man with a gun to get into a courtroom nowadays…but I feel like back then, maybe not? Even if it was…we'll pretend. And next…Della will arrive at the party! Get excited. Oh…and I'd appreciate it if you'd review. Thanks for reading! _


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I still don't own. At least, not these characters. _

_A/N: And Della arrives. What happens? Are you nervous? I'm a horrible person and I realize that. I promise you guys a chapter soon and this is what happens! I'm so sorry. Finals have been literally killing me though. I have a little time now, so I'm going to post this and then go back to studying! I hope you enjoy! _

Perry looked around the room and smiled. His party seemed to be going well. Standing in the entry hall he could see into the living room and kitchen. He saw Paul and Little Paul sitting on the couch in his living room talking to the two judges from San Francisco. He saw Eve and Nancy sitting at the kitchen table talking. He quickly glanced at the big grandfather clock in his living room and noticed it was noon. He frowned, but before he could think about Della not being here yet, the doorbell rang.

Perry walked over to the door and took a deep breath. He flung it open and was sure he stopped breathing. Thankfully, he was able to whisper, "Come in." He shut the door and turned around to face her. He knew he was staring, but at the moment he didn't really care. He leaned against the door and just kept staring.

Della returned Perry's stare, with a bit less intensity. She let a small smile grace her face noticing his reactions. He let his eyes run over her body and then just looked into her eyes. She stared into his eyes too, trying to read him. She could see regret, appreciation and a hint of love still present. She couldn't handle this right now, so she broke the eye contact and looked to the floor. "Hi," she whispered.

Perry collected himself a bit and cleared his throat. "Hello. How have you been?"

Della couldn't help it, she had to shake her head in amusement. She reconnected their eyes with a smile. "I think we covered all this on the phone two weeks ago."

Perry nodded his head. "Right."

They were both silent for a few minutes. Della looked around, but quickly looked back at Perry. "You do know everyone is staring at us, right?"

Perry smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "Well, we might as well give them a show."

Della looked apprehensive. "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing too drastic," Perry promised. "Do you trust me?"

"Always," Della responded, not really thinking about her answer. When Perry's expression changed, she realized what she had said. At the same time though, she didn't really want to change her answer. She could tell that he hadn't changed much, if any, over these three months. She also knew he would never do anything she wasn't comfortable with. What else could she say? She _did_ trust him.

Perry nodded. "Good to know."

He quickly swept her up into a hug. She stifled a laugh and ducked her head into his shoulder as she heard a quickly concealed gasp come from the direction of the kitchen. She had missed him, and as much as she hated to admit it, she missed _this_.

"God, I've missed you. So much." Perry whispered into her ear before he released her.

Della pulled back from the hug and smiled. "I've missed you too." She wasn't going to reveal anymore right now and she knew Perry knew that. She also could tell he was okay with that. Admitting what she did was a step, but she couldn't not return the sentiment, especially when it was true.

Della laughed as she looked around. Everyone that had been staring quickly looked back to their respective companions, but she had caught them. She slightly shook her head, but kept looking around. "This is a really nice house."

Perry sighed. "I'm so glad somebody noticed."

Della frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I spent hours cleaning it yesterday," Perry revealed. "I was hoping someone would comment. I should've known it would be you."

Della chose to ignore the last part of his statement and focused on the first part of his statement. "Oh, please. Don't you mean your cleaning lady spent hours cleaning it? I have never known you to clean."

"Just because I didn't do it in Los Angeles doesn't mean I can't," Perry claimed with mock indignation.

"So your cleaning lady did clean it?" Della asked smiling.

"I don't have a cleaning lady," Perry told her. "I've only been here three months and I haven't found one as good as Lucy yet."

"I don't think you will," Della said. "Lucy was definitely one of a kind." She spared a glance for the house again. "I'm impressed. If you cleaned this all by yourself."

"So you believe I can clean?" Perry questioned, teasing.

Della smiled with a teasing lilt in her voice as well. "I'll have to see some other rooms before I make my final judgment."

Perry rolled his eyes. "My rooms can stand your test. Follow me, I'll give you the grand tour!"

As Della followed him to survey the rest of the house she noticed the smile present on her face. She tried to remember when she started smiling and she realized she couldn't. She was sure she hadn't been smiling on the cab ride over here, because the cab driver commented on her "long face." She hadn't been smiling when she rang the doorbell because at that point she was nervous. It must've been after she saw him, but she couldn't remember if seeing him spawned the smile or if teasing with him had spawned the smile. She was sure it didn't matter though. The fact that she was smiling and the fact that she could tease him must mean something. She wasn't sure she was ready to analyze what it meant at the moment. She decided not to think about it today. She was going to have fun at this party and agonize about it tomorrow!

_What did you think? Was it everything you hoped for? LIB, I hope it restored your hope! So…if you read this, I would really appreciate it if you review! Thanks for reading though! _


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I own no rights to anything I may mention here…except Nancy! _

_ A/N: If you'll remember from the last chapter, there was a gasp from the kitchen after/during Perry and Della's hug. Now you'll see who gasped, but I suppose that's not a huge deal. There will be a little flashback and some other things. Enjoy!_

"Wow, I'm missing something huge," Nancy said.

Eve turned around to see what Nancy was looking at and smiled when she saw Perry and Della staring at each other. From their vantage point, they could really only see Perry's eyes and they were burning with intensity. Eve almost laughed when Perry and Della hugged. It was definitely unexpected, but Nancy's gasp was what spawned the laugh.

"What am I missing?" Nancy asked. "Mr. Mason told me they were best friends, but to stimulate that kind of reaction, that couldn't have been all they were."

Eve laughed. "They were definitely more than best friends. They were involved."

"Involved? Like together? Dating?" Nancy asked, trying to understand the complicated relationship between the two.

"Yes," Eve confirmed. "But it was a little more than that. We all thought they were going to end up married."

"Wow!" Nancy exclaimed. "What happened?"

"He moved out here and she didn't come with him," Eve said.

"He just left her?" Nancy asked. The only reason she asked was because it took Perry so long to invite Della out here in the first place. Nancy knew he wouldn't be too eager to ask Della to visit if he just left.

Eve chuckled and explained everything that Perry told her and Paul. "When Della tells you to do something it's best if you don't argue," Eve finished.

"Della?" Nancy asked, remembering a phone call she had gotten a few months back. "What's her last name?"

"Street," Eve answered. "Della Street."

"She called me!" Nancy cried. "Well, she called the office. It was about a week or two after I had taken the job."

Eve nodded. "She probably wanted to check up on this new secretary Perry had gotten. Also, she probably had realized she should've moved out here. She wouldn't come though unless she had a good reason to. If his secretary was horrible, she could justify coming out here. I'm sure she wasn't going to let him know she called though if his secretary was good, because she wasn't about to get a good secretary fired. You should be flattered. Della must've thought you were really good."

"But she called on such a bad day," Nancy moaned. "Well, I guess you could classify it as a good day, but a bad day for her purposes."

"What happened?" Eve asked.

As Nancy explained, she went back to that day herself.

_Nancy sighed walking into the office. It was so early. Well, she supposed it wasn't super early, but she usually didn't get here until much later, since Mr. Mason got to the office on most days at 9. Today though, Mr. Mason was going to be in court all day, so she had decided she was going to get there late. Then, she remembered all the work she had been putting off, so she made herself get up and got to the office at 7:30 that morning. _

_ She had barely sat down in her chair when the phone started ringing. "Mr. Perry Mason's office. This is his secretary, Nancy Swift. How may I help you?" _

_ "Hello, my name is Della Street," said the voice on the other end of the phone. "Could I please speak to Mr. Mason." _

_ "I'm sorry, Ms. Street," Nancy apologized. "Mr. Mason isn't in right now. He's going to be in court all day, until at least 5. He is planning to come back to the office for a bit after that though, because he has some important meetings. You could call back sometime after five. Did you need to schedule some type of appointment?" _

_ "Possibly," Della said evasively. _

_ "Well, I can't pencil you in for sure, since Mr. Mason has the book with him in court today, but I can tentatively set a meeting for you. He's free all day on Wednesday. He's also free all day on—no wait, he's got two pre-trial meetings in the morning—but he's free all afternoon on Friday," Nancy mused. "Would you like to set a tentative date and time?" _

_ Della shook her head, almost sadly, then realized Nancy couldn't see her. "No, not yet. I'd rather be sure." _

_ "Okay," Nancy agreed, not seeing anything too unusual about that. "If you would like I can leave him a message that you called, then he can get back to you before his meetings tonight." _

_ "No!" Della cried, then realized how ridiculous she sounded. "No. I'll just call back later." _

_ Nancy frowned, hearing the panic in Della's voice and wondered if something serious was wrong. "If you're sure." _

_ "I am," Della said, sounding more normal now. "Don't tell him I called." _

_ Nancy shrugged. "Okay. I'll talk to you later, Ms. Street." _

_ "Good-bye," Della said._

_ Later that night, much later that night, Nancy glared at the clock. It was officially 10:30 and she was finally getting ready to leave. She had planned to leave early that night, since she had came in so early, but Mr. Mason had lots of opinions and things from his meetings for her to do. He had left and told her she could go too and leave most of those things for the morning. She had planned to do exactly that, but putting things off was what had made her come in so early that morning and she didn't want to have to do that again for a while. _

_ Just as she was about to shut off the lights, the phone rang. She glared at it and considered not answering, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the other person hanging. She sighed and surrendered. "Mr. Perry Mason's office. This is his secretary, Nancy Swift. How may I help you?" _

_ "Hello, this is Della Street again," Della said. _

_ "Oh, Ms. Street!" Nancy exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. Mr. Mason left about an hour ago. I was going to tell him you called before he left, but I remembered your protests, so I didn't. Besides, even if I did tell him you called, you didn't leave a number, so I wouldn't have even known how to reach you." _

_ Della smiled sadly. "It's fine. The issue I was going to meet with him about has been resolved. That's why it took me so long to call back." _

_ Nancy frowned again. The woman almost sounded sad. "Are you sure?" _

_ "Positive," Della said. "There is no reason to ever tell him I called." _

_ Nancy raised her eyebrows. That seemed a bit drastic, but she wasn't about to disobey the woman's wishes. She seemed harmless enough and she supposed it wasn't that drastic of a thing, Nancy just thought it was strange she had to mention it. "Alright, Ms. Street. I'm glad you were able to get your issue resolved without having to use legal methods." _

_ Della smiled again. Nancy was even sweet; she sounded very sincere. "So am I. Thank you for all your help." _

_ "Not a problem," Nancy said, grinning. "Good-bye Ms. Street." _

_ "Good-bye, Ms. Swift," Della said. _

"I wish I hadn't answered the phone!" Nancy groaned.

Eve nodded. "That probably cinched the deal for her. You already seemed perfect enough. You came into the office very early, even when Perry wasn't going to be there. You also knew all his appointments for the week and apparently who they were with, without even having to look at the book. She probably would've done lots more checking if you hadn't stayed so late, even after Perry left. You seemed perfect though and almost exactly like her."

"But it was only by chance those things happened. I mean, I always come in before Mr. Mason, but I usually only beat him by ten or fifteen minutes. I had just looked at the appointment book the night before because I knew he was taking it with him. Also, he usually tells me to leave before he does and I usually obey. That day was a horrible day for her to do her checking!" Nancy explained.

Eve shrugged. "It didn't really matter. She was only going to check once and she wasn't going to belabor the point. If you seemed great, she was going to move on and try to forget. It was her fault all this happened anyway and you can bet she told herself that ten times a day."

Nancy bit her lip. "I just wish she had called another day. It would've worked out better for so many people. I mean, sure I would be out of a job, but it wouldn't be that bad. I'm sure I could find another one. It's so obvious she wants to be out here working for him and it's so obvious he wants _her_ working for him."

"Obvious?" Eve asked.

"Well, I'm just guessing about her from what you told me," Nancy admitted. "But, I see it every day with Mr. Mason." Nancy suddenly got an idea. Her face lit up. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go talk to her."

Eve watched her go. She then thought back to their conversation. She winced. She figured this was one of those times where Paul would tell her she talked too much. Nancy probably didn't need to know all that, if Nancy revealed Eve as her source, Della might kill her. Oh well. At least it might help something between Della and Perry change, and Eve knew something needed to change…for the better.

_Hmmm…what is Nancy going to say? What will they talk about? Will it be good or bad? I hope you enjoyed the flashback and this chapter. Sorry there wasn't much Perry and Della. I suppose you could assume they are on their tour of the house! Please review and thanks for reading! _


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Well, except Nancy. And I don't really own Little Paul either…but I guess I could own his personality! _

_A/N: What was Nancy's big idea? I guess you'll find out here. Oh, and in a few chapters earlier, when Perry called Della his "beautiful girl" if you'll remember that, I took that from an amazing writer, Old English D. If you haven't read her stuff, you really should…after you read this chapter! Hehe…enjoy! _

Perry and Della were standing in the dining room when Nancy found them. She stood out of the way and out of their sight for a minute observing. She smiled looking at their faces. She noticed how happy Mr. Mason looked. She didn't think she had seen him look this happy since he had moved out here. She also noticed Della's smile looked exactly like it did in the pictures. They were also laughing a lot; she was sure Mr. Mason had never laughed this much in a week, much less in a ten minute period.

"You do remember the offer I made before I moved out here," Perry reminded Della.

Della eyed him critically trying to mask her apprehension. "Which one was that?"

"The one about you coming with me," Perry told her. "The offer's still open. I still think you should move out here."

Della rolled her eyes. "Perry, all the reasons I couldn't still stand. Not to mention, you've made a life here now. There's nothing I can do for you or for myself out here."

When Nancy heard that, her decision was confirmed. She unobtrusively stepped into Mr. Mason's line of sight.

"Nancy!" Perry called, leaving his argument with Della for another time. "Come over here."

Nancy obeyed.

"Della, this is my secretary, Nancy Swift," Perry introduced them. "Nancy, this is my…I was going to say secretary, but I guess I'll say best friend, Della Street."

"Oh, I know who she is," Nancy assured him, putting the first part of her plan into action. "She's the one in all the pictures."

"Pictures?" Della asked.

"He has two pictures of you on his desk," Nancy answered before Perry could, which was all part of her plan. "There is one where he is with you, but there is another one of just you. Of course, I don't see that one too often. Every time I take dictation, it's face down."

Della looked at Perry, who had a flush creeping up his face. She tried to glare at him but it was hard. The thought of him keeping her pictures on his desk was too sweet. Her years of practice made her able to pull it off pretty well though.

Nancy decided to make her act seem believable she needed to be contrite. "I'm sorry, did I say something I shouldn't have?"

Perry shook his head. "Oh no, you said it all."

"I'm sorry," Nancy apologized, sheepishly.

"It's fine," Perry said. "I'll leave you two now. Think about what I said, Della." With that he walked away.

Della let a smile appear on her face as she turned back to Nancy, after watching him walk away. She wasn't going to think about what he said…at least not right now. "Hello, Ms. Swift."

"Oh, please, call me Nancy," Nancy corrected the older woman.

"Then, you'll have to call me Della," Della said in return.

Nancy nodded. "I'm awfully sorry. If I'd known who you were that day when you called I would've left a message!"

Della shook her head. "No, you were right not to. He didn't need to know that I'd called."

"But he did!" Nancy argued. "He needed to fire me so you could come work for him!"

Della raised her eyebrows. "Who have you been talking to? Little Paul or Eve?"

"What makes you think I've talked to someone?" Nancy asked. She didn't think Eve would appreciate it if she revealed that she had done the talking.

"Very few people know about the complicated relationship Perry and I have," Della explained. "The only people at this party that know, besides Perry and myself are Eve, Paul and Little Paul. I know Paul wouldn't tell you and Eve and Little Paul can't keep their mouths shut."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about?" Nancy lied. Unfortunately, she couldn't look away from Della and Della had learned quite a few tricks form Perry the defense attorney and Nancy caved. "Okay, okay. I talked to Eve."

"Well, at least you got the true story," Della said. "But I still don't think you need to listen to her!"

"I'm glad she told me though," Nancy said. "I needed to know!"

Della wrinkled her forehead. "Why?"

"For a number of reasons," Nancy defended herself. "First of all, I needed to know _why_ I was modeling our whole office after you. I typed up a brief for him one time, but he corrected the way I did it, telling me how you used to do it. So now, when I type up the opinions, I try to make them look like the briefs so they're easier for him to read. It's definitely more work for me, but it makes him easier to deal with. Also, he told me exactly how to sort his mail. I tried to do it differently than you did, not on purpose, but he did _not_ like that and threw a fit. I know he wishes you were still working for him and from what I can tell, you want to be working for him."

This is exactly what Della wanted to avoid in talking to Nancy. She did not want to talk about this! "He likes things to be the same. Tell me, Nancy, how—"

"I'm not finished yet," Nancy interrupted. "There was another reason I needed to know these things. I haven't told Mr. Mason this yet, but I'm going to resign."

"You're going to do what?" Della questioned.

"Resign," Nancy repeated. "I've been thinking about this for a while, but I wanted to wait until this party. I wanted to tell you about it even before I told him. I wanted you to get a head start. If you want the job, I definitely think you should take it."

Della squinted at Nancy. "Exactly how long is a while?"

"What?" Nancy asked.

"You said you've been thinking about this for a while," Della reminded the younger woman. "How long is a while? A few months, a few weeks, a few days, a few hours?"

Nancy had already learned not to lie to the woman, from her earlier experiences, so she decided to tell the truth. "Well, it's more like a few minutes."

Della sighed. She thought it was something like that. "You're not resigning."

"Excuse me?" Nancy asked, with a laugh. "I don't think you can tell me not to resign. If I want to, I will."

"But you don't want to," Della contradicted. "You're reacting on impulse right now. If I said I wanted this job, on Monday you would be angry that you let me have it."

Nancy shook her head. "No, I wouldn't. If you want the job, come to the office on Monday around 11. I'm going to resign on Monday whether you are there or not. If you are, it'll just make things so much easier all around."

Della decided to try another tactic. "Nancy—"

"No!" Nancy cut in. "I've made up my mind. If you are there, I'm resigning. If you aren't, I'm resigning."

"I can't just take the job," Della said. "Where would I stay? I don't have anything here. I have no house, I'm staying in a hotel right now. Besides all that, I don't have any luggage. I only brought enough things for a three day stretch."

"For some reason, I don't see the house thing being a problem," Nancy said chuckling, knowing that Perry would be glad to let Della stay with him for a while. "I know you're looking for reasons not to take the job, but I don't think there are any. I'm resigning on Monday. The future of Perry's judgeship lays in your hands. Just keep that in mind."

Nancy began to walk away. Della just stared after her with raised eyebrows, much too shocked to say anything. She hardly thought things were as extreme as Nancy made them sound.

"What did you think of her?" A voice sounded from behind Della.

She jumped, Perry's voice having startled her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Perry apologized.

"You didn't," Della assured him. "I just wasn't expecting you. As for Nancy…she's quite stubborn."

Perry looked at Della with raised eyebrows. "Just like someone else I know."

Della smiled. "I have no idea who you could be talking about." She walked toward the punch bowl after that. Perry couldn't help but stare after her with a smile on his face. She was still the same Della.

-%

"Dad!" Little Paul called running toward his father. "Wait until you hear what I found out!"

"What you found out?" Paul questioned.

"I was being a great detective," Little Paul bragged. "Well, I guess I'm not being so great right now since I'm telling you, but I had to tell someone and I didn't think telling Mom was the best idea."

Paul tried to hold in his laughter. His son had the right idea about not telling Eve. He still didn't have the makings of a detective down yet, but Paul supposed he was getting closer. Paul did always report all findings to Perry. "Okay, tell me what you know."

"Perry asked Della to move out here with him again," Little Paul relayed.

"Who told you Perry asked Della to move out here?" Paul quickly asked. He noticed Little Paul said 'again,' and he didn't seem too surprised about it.

"Mom," Little Paul admitted. "I kind of bugged her until she told me. I knew you two had a secret and it wasn't too hard to get her to tell me."

Paul rolled his eyes. Wasn't it Eve who convinced _him _not to tell his son? He didn't know what he was going to do with his wife and child. "Okay, what else do you know?"

"Nancy, Perry's secretary right now, is going to resign on Monday. She hasn't told Perry yet, but she told Della and she wants Della to be here on Monday to take the job," Little Paul continued.

Paul raised his eyebrows, a bit impressed at the information his son found out. Then he narrowed his eyes. "Paul, how did you find all this out?"

"Good questions?" Little Paul said. He realized that sounded more like an inquiry though, not an answer.

"Paul," The boy's father threatened lightly. Paul had learned tricks from Perry and he knew his son would crack in a few seconds.

"Okay, okay, so I did some eavesdropping," Little Paul admitted.

"That is _not_ how good detectives get their information," Paul scolded him. "Good detectives get their information by asking questions. They don't eavesdrop, because their information could be wrong. You never know what you could be hearing out of context."

"But there's no way this is wrong!" Little Paul insisted. "I was headed to the dining room to get some food, and I came in on the whole conversation early. I didn't want to interrupt them. I was going to leave right away, but I changed my mind."

"You wanted to eavesdrop?" Paul asked.

"It wasn't planned, Dad!" Paul insisted. "I promise. I just…I liked watching Perry and Della. They looked so happy. I haven't seen Della look like that since before Perry left and the Perry I saw today wasn't the Perry I saw last night. Last night he looked different too, but with Della he looked exactly like he did before he moved."

Paul softened a bit. He really did believe his son didn't mean to eavesdrop. In fact, Paul thought if he had been getting ready to go into the dining room he would've probably stopped also as to not interrupt them. He might've even watched for a little while. It had been too long since he had seen both of them so happy.

"I suppose you didn't mean to listen in," Paul agreed finally.

"Thank you!" Little Paul cried. "So what are we going to do?"

"Do?" Paul asked. "We aren't going to do anything."

Little Paul's eyes widened. "But we have to make Della stay. We can't just let her leave now!"

"You know as well as I do that if she doesn't want to stay we can't make her," Paul told his son.

"No, we can't," Little Paula agreed. "But we can at least push her in the right direction."

"And how would we do that without letting her know we heard the whole conversation?" Paul asked.

Little Paul paused for a minute. "I guess you do have a point there."

Paul nodded. "I'm sorry, son, but this is a decision Della has to make on her own."

Little Paul began to walk away from his father. "There just has to be a way," he mused. "There just has to be!"

_Did you like it? Nancy's idea and Little Paul's scheming. There will be more to Little Paul's plan in the next chapter. Okay, I lied. Review this chapter, _then_ you should go read Old English D's stuff if you haven't! Review and thanks for reading! _


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I did not get the rights to Perry Mason over Christmas, though I did get season 4 and 5 on DVD! So…that's pretty much all I own. _

_A/N: So, I decided since my updates have been rather scarce, I should combine two chapters. That and the fact that the chapters separate would've been incredibly short and I just felt mean having two short chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! _

"Please, Mom!" Little Paul begged. They were sitting in the hotel suite on the couch. Paul was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Little Paul finally broke down and told his mom all he had heard. Not only that, but he really needed her help. He knew Della would listen to her. "I have it all worked out."

Eve raised her eyebrows. "Your father would kill me."

"But it's the perfect opportunity!" Little Paul cajoled. "I know Dad wants something to change, we all do. Even Nancy! Besides, we don't know what kind of secretary Perry will get after Nancy resigns if Della doesn't do it."

Eve bit her lip thinking about all this. Her son definitely had a point. She did want things to change and she knew her husband and Little Paul did as well. She knew Perry regretted leaving and she knew Della regretted telling him to leave, but that was all in the past. This was the present and they could keep the two stubborn fools from making the same mistake, from missing the same opportunity. Eve sighed. "Okay."

-%

Eve took a deep breath knocking on Della's door. She only hoped Della agreed to listen to her.

Della opened the hotel door. "Hi, Eve!"

"Hello, Della," Eve greeted her. She smiled and began the plan. "So, did Perry ask you to move out here again?" She said it in a joking manner, pretending it was supposed to be a joke.

Della looked at the floor and Eve gasped. "He did! What are you going to do about it!"

Della sighed and motioned for Eve to come in. After she shut the door she leaned against it. "I'm not really sure."

Eve squinted at her. "Don't you want to stay here? Oh, but you don't want to get married. And you couldn't work because of Nancy."

"No, Nancy says she's resigning on Monday," Della corrected. "Whether I'm there or not. I'm not sure I believe her, but Perry and I did talk about how stubborn she is. I really think she might do it, and then Perry would be in a horrible mess."

Eve slightly smiled. She always loved how Della thought about Perry and his job, even now. Eve had often thought Della cared more about Perry than she did herself. Eve knew this was the only exception to that; Della was just scared.

Eve nodded. She sat down in the chair. "Della, why don't you want to move out here? Besides what this move might mean for you and Perry?"

Della shrugged. "I have a life in Los Angeles. I have friends, I have a job, I have a home."

Eve tilted her head, thinking. "You have friends, but Perry is your best friend. I've heard you talk about a friend named Felicity. She doesn't live in L.A., but you guys still keep in touch, right? Paul and I are your only friends in Los Angeles, and we would still talk all the time if you were out here.

"You have a job, but I highly doubt it's the one you want. Do you really enjoy it? After working for Perry, I bet any job would be dull. And I don't know why you wouldn't take this job, it's the perfect opportunity. Nancy's leaving it wide open for you!

"I have to disagree with you on your last point though. You have a house in Los Angeles, but is it a home?" Nancy asked.

Della frowned, still leaning against the door. "What do you mean?"

Eve smiled. "A home. A place where no matter what happens, you're happy. A place where you feel welcome. I know it's a horrible cliché, but home really is where the heart is. Paul and Paul Junior have my heart and wherever they are, that's where my home will be. Home isn't necessarily four walls, two windows and a door. It's family, it's open arms…it's love."

Eve paused for a minute, letting that sink in. She got up and walked over to the door. "So, I'll see you tomorrow at the airport to go 'home.'" When Eve said home she made air quotes.

Della moved to let Eve out. "Maybe."

The smile lit up Eve's eyes and overtook her whole face. "Good."

-%

Little Paul bounced up and down with anticipation. As soon as Eve walked back in the door he attacked. "Well? What did she say? What happened? Is she staying?"

"I don't know if she's staying," Eve admitted.

"What?" Little Paul almost shouted. "But I thought—"

"My job was to go over there and make her think," Eve reminded her son gently. "I was not going to try to push her into staying. I just wanted to make her think about things. She said she might come to the airport tomorrow."

Little Paul sighed. "So she still might not stay here? Everything might go back to the horrible new normal?"

Eve nodded. "It might. But we'll have to wait until tomorrow to know for sure."

Little Paul groaned as Eve walked into the bedroom. He would never be able to sleep tonight.

-%

Della couldn't help but smile after she closed the door. Eve looked so happy that Della might be changing her mind about going home. She knew there would be a lot of technicalities if she did decide to stay. She'd have to call the airport, she'd have to see if this room was booked and if it was get a new one. The biggest technicality of all was to figure out what she and Perry were—if they were anything anymore—and try to keep that separate from their working relationship but still be amazing together, work or not. Della sighed. When did her life get so complicated?

Eve was right on all accounts Della supposed. She did still keep in touch with her best friend, Felicity. Felicity had moved to Florida ages ago, but they still talked to each other every week. They exchanged letters regularly too. They didn't get to see each other too often, but Della knew that would be different with Paul and company. They would still be far away, but would be much closer than she and Felicity. After keeping in touch with Felicity for such a long time, Paul and company should be a cinch. That was, _if _she decided to move.

Della thought about her job with Arthur Gordon. She was his personal assistant, but he had said if she was still this amazing in a year she would definitely get promoted. She was glad he appreciated her work, but she wasn't sure she enjoyed working for him. It wasn't a horrible job and he wasn't a horrible boss. He respected her, so he wasn't rude to her. It was a job that paid decent money, but it wasn't the same as working for Perry. Arthur Gordon could be a real bear to some of his clients and she liked to steer clear of him when he was like that. She was always able to calm Perry down when he got frustrated…but she realized she didn't care enough to try with Arthur Gordon. She was always nice to the clients, especially when they endured his wrath, but she never went to talk to him. That must say something about how much she enjoyed and wanted the job with Arthur Gordon?

The last thing Eve said really stuck with Della. Was Los Angeles home? Yes, she did have a house, four walls, two windows and a door. Her house was beautiful and it was one thing in which she took pride. She also loved to garden and she made sure her yard looked beautiful every year. She knew that wasn't what Eve was speaking of, though.

Home was where you were happy, no matter what. Was she always happy in Los Angeles? Of course she wasn't. She wasn't even always happy when Perry was there. She always did find it hard to be sad when she was with him though. All her sadness melted away when she saw him again today and she hadn't been sad the whole time the party was going on. She knew she was sadder in Los Angeles lately. Even Little Paul had commented on it, loudly, to his mother the last time Della visited them.

"Home is where the heart is," Della said out loud. She loved Paul Drake and his family. They definitely held a part of her heart but she knew her whole heart wasn't with them. It wasn't hard to figure out where the other part was. It was right here in San Francisco, sitting on an appellate bench.

Della leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes. What was it Eve had said again? Home was family, it was open arms, it was love. Home was family. She had family back in the Midwest, but since she moved out to Los Angeles, she often felt Perry and Paul were the closest things to family she had. Paul was like her older brother and Perry…she couldn't describe everything he was to her.

Home was open arms. Well, that was easy. Perry wanted to welcome her. He asked her to move out here again with no reservations. She sighed and shivered slightly with her eyes closed. She imagined those open arms closing around her and wrapping her in comfort and security. She could still feel it with amazing clarity, which didn't exactly surprise her. She could also feel something else in Perry's arms every time he wrapped them around her, today included. Love.

Eve had said home was love and Della knew that's what Perry still held for her. She also knew that, no matter how much she tried to deny it, she still loved him. All those old feelings she had for him, those feelings she thought she had buried, resurfaced when she saw him, not to mention when she hugged him. She still loved him; she was still in love with him. She knew Perry felt the same way about her. She was always able to read him and she saw it in his eyes just enough today. Della chuckled, thinking they may not have been too discreet. If Eve had talked to Nancy, Nancy must've said something. Sure, Eve loved to talk, but she didn't just run her mouth without prompting.

Della squeezed her eyes shut tighter and sighed. She hated to admit it, but Eve was right on all accounts. Her home was in San Francisco now and there was no way she could go back to Los Angeles tomorrow without exploring this.

_Let's hear it, a sigh of relief all around! So she's staying. The question is…will Perry accept her working for him? Will Nancy really resign? Will Della end up talking herself out of going to the office on Monday? So many questions! Stay tuned to find the answers…and review this chapter please! Thanks for reading! _


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I don't own these things. I'm just playing._

_A/N: Della is going to the office! What will happen when she goes there? Will Nancy really resign or will Della have to go home after all…without seeing Perry? Enjoy! _

Della walked into the office Monday and looked around. It was empty. She checked her watch. It was only 11:05, she wasn't horribly late. She wouldn't have been late at all, but she was still arguing with herself this morning. Finally she just told her mind to shut up and she listened to her heart. Of course, it led her here.

"Yes, sir," Nancy's voice sounded, a bit dull in tone. Nancy walked out of Perry Mason's office and, seeing Della, her face lit up in a huge smile. She quickly shut the door to Mason's office. "Oh my gosh! You're here! I didn't think you'd come! I'm so glad you're here!"

Della couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm in the young girl's voice. She really did seem happy to see her. Maybe she really was doing the right thing. "I didn't think I'd be here either, so I guess we're even."

"You do want to work for him, don't you?" Nancy quickly asked with a frown. "Because if you don't, you can't go in there."

Della smiled again. She wondered if it was the man or the job that caused this protective quality in all his secretaries. Who was she kidding? It was definitely the man. "I do want to work here," Della assured Nancy. "I was just fighting a war this morning."

Nancy nodded. "Between your heart and your mind."

Della tilted her head slightly. She wasn't sure she liked it when Nancy was so perceptive. "Have you resigned yet?"

Nancy tried to stop a smile from spreading across her face. She noticed Della's hasty change of subject. Nancy knew she really did need to stop speaking everything that came to mind, but it was fun! "Not yet. I was going to give you until 11:10 to get here. I thought you might be late. I would've done it regardless, but now I can give Mr. Mason some good news after I resign. I'll go do it now!"

"Nancy, wait," Della requested. "Just to clarify, you still want to resign?"

"Yes," Nancy said.

Della looked at her closely. "You're lying."

Nancy sighed with a small eye roll. "I'm not. Well…not really."

Della shook her head and pointed to the chair behind Nancy's desk. "Sit."

Nancy sighed again and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She obeyed Della even though she didn't want to. The woman had a strange presence about her that made Nancy obey without question. Nancy knew that must've helped Mr. Mason when he had difficult clients. She was sure Della could make anyone do anything. She had a quiet sort of power. "What?"

"You're not resigning," Della told her.

"Yes, I am!" Nancy argued. "Let's lay the cards out on the table, Della. I know I'm a good secretary and if I get a good reference from Mr. Mason I know I won't have trouble finding a job. I loved working here, but I'd rather you work here. Mr. Mason would rather you work here and I know you would rather work here. You can leave, but that won't mean I won't resign. Like I told you Saturday, I'm resigning whether you're here or not."

Della stared at Nancy. She looked serious and Della had no doubt that she would do exactly as she said. "When I got here you were leaving Mr. Mason's office and you sounded depressed. Why?"

Nancy smiled. "Because you weren't here yet. You might've noticed I brightened up considerably when you got here!"

Della sighed. "If I walk out that door right now, you'll still resign?"

"You bet," Nancy said.

"I don't understand," Della questioned.

"You need to work here," Nancy tried to clarify. "He needs you to work here."

"But if I'm not here…" Della trailed off.

"He might get a bad secretary," Nancy said. "You know you won't be able to restrain yourself from calling and checking up on the new girl. If she's bad, which she might very well be, you'll have to come back anyway. All I'm trying to do is speed up the inevitable." What Nancy didn't mention was that she knew she would be helping Mr. Mason find a secretary. She wouldn't find a horrible one, but she would definitely know who to hire, to make sure Della would have to come back.

Della tried not to laugh. She knew, on some level, Nancy was right. If Della didn't take this job, she probably would call to check back. She would want to make sure the new secretary was good enough for Perry. And if she wasn't…

"Can I resign now?" Nancy asked. She was a bit afraid to get up without Della's approval. She wanted to make sure the older woman was finished with her.

Della was shaking her head in amazement. "That's fine." She wondered how this woman knew her so well. Maybe Della really was that transparent. Maybe Perry talked about her. One thing was for sure. Nancy picked a good job, working with Perry was always amazing…but Della though Nancy might be better as a detective.

-%

Nancy entered Mr. Mason's office after she heard his "Come in," responding to her soft knock.

"Mr. Mason," Nancy said, getting his attention.

Mr. Mason quickly finished the sentence he was reading about his latest case. He looked up at Nancy. "Yes."

"I'm resigning," Nancy told him.

"You're…what?" Perry Mason asked, stunned. Of all the things she could've said to him, this surprised him the most. She could've told him she was visiting the moon and he might have been less shocked.

Nancy shrugged in silent apology. "I've been thinking about this for a while, but I wanted to wait until after your party. I couldn't ruin your weekend. You were so excited about it."

"Is there something you aren't happy with?" Perry asked in a desperate attempt to get her to stay. He had enough trouble finding a new secretary after Della spoiled him for anyone else (in more ways than one). He was sure he got lucky with Nancy. He didn't think it was possible for him to get that lucky again. "We can change it."

Nancy shook her head. "That isn't it. I'll stay and help you interview new secretary's though. That is, if you don't like the girl who's here right now."

"The girl who's here now?" Perry Mason questioned.

Nancy nodded. "I have a girl in my office who wants the job. I really think she'd be great for it."

"Did you get her resume?" Perry wondered.

"Well, she doesn't exactly have it with her," Nancy admitted. "But I think if you give her a chance you'll love her. She's everything you need."

Perry sighed. He knew that no matter who was in Nancy's office right now, she wouldn't be everything he needed. Everything he ever needed went back to Los Angeles on a plane yesterday afternoon. He had to accept the inevitable, just as he had when he moved out here and Della had stayed behind. "Bring her in."

Perry was a bit surprised at the smile that lit up Nancy's face. Was she really excited for this girl? He didn't know what could be so special about her. He knew there must be something though, because Nancy didn't get this excited about nothing.

-%

Nancy almost couldn't hold in her excitement when she walked back into her office. "Mr. Mason will see you now."

Della had to smile at how professional the girl sounded. How Della heard so much of herself in the girl. Della did smile at first, but quickly became nervous. What would happen when she saw Perry, when he realized _she_ was the candidate. She hoped she would be able to talk when she saw him. Right now she was afraid if she opened her mouth some of the butterflies fluttering around in her belly would fly out. There were so many she was sure they couldn't all be contained in her small stomach.

Della walked into the office behind Nancy. "Mr. Mason, this is Miss Della Street. Miss Street, this is Mr. Perry Mason."

_I know, I know, I'm mean. This originally wasn't where I wanted the chapter to end, but I decided it was too great of a cliffhanger to pass up. I'm sorry if you hate me. You can tell me how much you hate me in a review if you like! I'll try to update soon, thank you for reading! _


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: Don't own…except mistakes. _

_A/N: I'm sure you all remember the cliffhanger I left you with. Here's the next installment to the story. Enjoy! _

Della stared at Perry and he stared at her. Perry's eyes widened when he saw her and he gasped, but he was sure he stopped breathing. What happened to her plane? What was she doing here right now? Was Nancy serious, was Della serious? Was she really going to work with him again? Could all his dreams be coming true? He had so many questions, but his vocal cords weren't cooperating. He couldn't speak at all.

Della quickly read the emotions in his eyes and tried to stop her smile. She could tell he was happy and knew he wasn't angry with her. She decided to tease him a bit. After all, it was just what they did. "Hello, Mr. Mason. Miss Swift has told me so much about you and I would really like to work for you. I don't have a resume with me but I'm hoping you'll interview me anyway."

"You've got the job," Perry managed to croak out.

Della shook her head. "That's awfully unprofessional." She turned to look at Nancy who was still standing in the door. "I thought you told me he was quite professional, Miss Swift."

"He usually is, Miss Street," Nancy said, playing along and trying not to laugh. Nancy was so glad she hadn't left. She couldn't, she had known this would be good and since she engineered the whole thing she figured it would be unfair to not stay and watch, at least until Mr. Mason dismissed her. "I'm not sure what's wrong with him. But if you don't want the job now…"

"Goodbye, Nancy," Perry all but growled.

Nancy chuckled, reading his anger for what it was. It wasn't directed at her or Della. She knew he was angry at himself. He really thought Nancy was bringing a young, inexperienced girl into his office to work for him. He really thought Nancy was oblivious to everything that happened this weekend between Della and him. Worst of all, Nancy knew he didn't know how to express his feelings. "Goodbye, Mr. Mason. Good luck Miss Street." She quietly closed the door and left the room.

"Is she really resigning?" Perry asked in a choked voice.

Della nodded, trying not to let her own emotions get the best of her, especially after hearing Perry's breaking voice.

"Do you really want this job?" Perry inquired, trying not to get his hopes up too high.

Della blinked and instead of holding back her tears, it set a few loose. "If you'll have me."

Perry reached her before she even realized he moved. Della managed to notice the tears present on his cheeks before he swept her into a bone-crushing hug. The intensity of his hug was so powerful that he lifted her up and her feel were dangling above the ground. She couldn't bring herself to care though as she hid her face in his shoulder, trying to stop her tears.

Perry buried his face in Della's hair, smiling at the familiar scent. "God, I need you in my life," Perry whispered, tears in his voice as well. "I'm so glad you're here."

-%

Nancy sat at her desk, smiling. She was quite satisfied with herself. When she had first suggested to Mr. Mason that he invite Della up here, this was not what she had in mind. She had to say though, it had turned out well.

Nancy supposed it didn't exactly turn out well for her; she was technically out of a job. She found herself not really caring at the moment. She could tell how happy Mr. Mason was when she brought Della in. She also knew how happy Della was, no matter how much she tried to deny it. Nancy knew if she had told Della she didn't want to resign anymore Della would leave without argument. Nancy also knew that if she did that, everyone she met at that party yesterday would kill her. Nancy would've killed herself if she did that too. Those two were just meant to be together. In more ways than one if Nancy was reading them correctly.

Nancy glanced at the clock. It was almost twelve o'clock. Mr. Mason had two meetings this afternoon, one at two and another one at four. He usually took two hours for lunch and she was sure he would want as much of those two hours he could get today. He would probably love to take Della out to lunch. She should probably warn him he was about to lose valuable minutes with his girl.

She walked over to his door and opened it. "Mr. Mason, I just—" She cut off with a gasp and slammed her eyes shut. She definitely hadn't been expecting Della and Mr. Mason to be kissing and she definitely didn't mean to interrupt them.

"I'm so sorry! So sorry!" Nancy apologized, her eyes still closed. She quickly shut the door and then opened her eyes. Why didn't she use the buzzer?

-%

Della and Perry had broken apart when Nancy opened the door. Della's face was red but Perry was trying to hold in his laughter.

"You think this is funny?" Della asked.

A smile was still playing on the corners of the big man's mouth and he was sure if he answered he would burst out in full fledged laughter.

"This is not funny!" Della exclaimed. "If we're going to work together, we've got to keep the professional separate from the personal all the time!"

"We will," Perry promised when he got control of his urge to laugh. "Today was kind of a special occasion."

Della glared at him in mock anger. "This is your fault."

"I know," Perry assured her although he really didn't see the logic and didn't think it was _all_ his fault. She wasn't exactly a passive participant. He wasn't about to bring that up now and make her angry. "I guess I'll go see why Nancy interrupted us."

-%

Perry opened the door to his office and stepped into the outer office. He looked at Nancy.

"Mr. Mason, I'm so very sorry!" Nancy exclaimed. "I usually just walk right in when I have something to tell you so I didn't even think to use the buzzer! I didn't mean to interrupt!"

Mr. Mason smiled at the young woman. "It's fine. Was there something you needed to tell me?"

"It's almost twelve o'clock," Nancy told him. "You can take your two hours for lunch, but you have to be back here by two. You have a meeting at two and you have a meeting at four. I wanted to tell you it was almost twelve because I thought maybe you and Miss Street would like to go out to lunch and get reacquainted and such." Nancy thought it best to leave out the fact that they looked pretty friendly when she walked in a few seconds ago.

Perry was deep in thought. He did have to be back for those meetings, but it had been three long months since he had seen Della. Now she was finally here. Sure, she was going to be here for a long time, but that didn't mean he didn't want the whole day with her. He made his decision. "Nancy, my meetings aren't with the mayor, are they?"

Nancy wrinkled her forehead. "No."

"Are they with the governor?" Perry asked.

Nancy smiled, finally seeing where he was going with this line of questioning. "No. I'll reschedule them. You don't have anything tomorrow, but I have a feeling you don't want the meetings then either. Your afternoon is free on Friday, so I'll schedule them for two and three, that way you can finish quickly."

Perry nodded. "Do that, please." He began to walk back into his office, but turned back to her before he opened the door. "You really are an amazing secretary. You know that, don't you?"

Nancy smiled at him. She did know she was good, but hearing every now and then, especially from Mr. Mason, always helped. "Thank you. I wouldn't have resigned, but…"

Perry sighed, feeling a little guilty. He supposed it was his fault, Nancy thinking she needed to resign. "You didn't have to, you know."

"I did," Nancy contradicted. She knew Della wouldn't stay here if she was still working here.

Perry knew she was right. He knew that Della wouldn't stay here unless she could work here. The only way that would happen is if Nancy resigned. He wondered if maybe that's what they had been talking about at his party on Saturday. "I'm sorry."

Nancy shrugged. "Write me a good recommendation and I'll be happy."

Perry nodded. "You've got it." He stepped back into his office after that.

Nancy smiled. Perry just seemed so much happier in general right now. Yep, she had definitely made the right decision in resigning.

-%

"Let's go," Perry said, stepping back into his office and grabbing his coat.

"Go?" Della questioned. "Where?"

"Home," Perry informed her. "Well, to my home, for now. I don't have any more meetings today, or tomorrow, so we have two whole days to ourselves."

Della didn't point out that it wasn't _exactly_ two whole days. She knew better than to get involved in technicalities with Perry. "When is your first meeting on Wednesday?"

"I don't know," Perry said, nonchalantly, not seeming to be very worried about it.

"You don't know!" Della exclaimed. "I have to find out! We can't just leave someone here waiting for you!"

"Della," Perry groaned.

"No!" Della said in her best secretarial tone. The one that always got him to behave and listen before. "I'm going to go out there and ask Nancy about your appointments for the rest of the week. If I'm going to be your secretary, I have to know these things. Then we can leave."

"But…" Perry tried.

"No!" Della repeated. "Sit down and behave for a minute. You can wait thirty seconds, which is all this will take." She then walked into the outer office and left Perry alone.

Perry glared at the door, which she closed behind her. Her professionalism and how it made him better at his job was something he always loved about her. Then again, he did like for things to go his way, and he had been starved for her lately. This was one of those times he wished she would be a little less than professional.

-%

"Della!" Nancy exclaimed, startled by the appearance of the woman. She'd thought they would be gone by now.

"I was just wondering if you could tell me when the rest of Perry's appointments are this week. He doesn't know," Della explained.

Nancy smiled. That sounded exactly like him. "Oh, of course. I'll write them down for you." Nancy grabbed the book, a piece of paper and a pencil and began scribbling them down.

"Nancy," Della began. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Nancy complied, still scribbling, but almost finished.

"Why are you doing all this?" Della asked.

"All what?" Nancy wondered, looking up from her writing and handing Della the finished paper. Della glanced down, but didn't pay too much attention, much more interested in Nancy's answer.

"You've known Perry for three months at the most, and you've known me for two or three days," Della elaborated. "Yet, you're resigning to make Perry and me happier, by letting me work here. Why?"

Nancy sighed. "Even before you came out here, I could see you two had something special, at one point. When you did come out here, I could tell you two still did. I knew you two loved each other once and still did. I may be young, but I do know what love looks like. I just couldn't live with myself if I let you go back to Los Angeles and you two lost that love. They don't make love like that anymore, I would swear to it."

Della, being surrounded by defense attorney Perry for so long wanted to tell Nancy not to swear to it, she might be lying. The trouble was: Della wasn't sure that was true. Maybe Nancy was telling the truth. She had always known she and Perry had something special, had something that no one else had. That's why she was so reluctant to move with him to San Francisco, she was scared of where that special something would lead them. She did know that after all this, she wasn't scared anymore. She'd much rather live with him, in any way possible, than have to go back to living without him.

Della couldn't help but think she was so lucky. Perry was so lucky Nancy had answered his advertisement. She couldn't help but think Nancy was probably the only girl who would be this understanding, this wonderful about everything. Della looked at Nancy. She didn't know how to express her gratitude for everything this young girl had done for them. She could only think of two words. Even though they didn't began to cover everything she needed to say, she spoke them anyway. "Thank you."

_Are you happy? She's staying, she's working for him and everything is happy! I am such a sucker for a happy ending! Don't worry though, this isn't the end…yet. I do have one more chapter left. Review this one first though please and thank you for reading! _


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: I haven't owned in last chapters, so I certainly don't own now._

_A/N: This is the last chapter! I'm happy and sad. Hopefully it lives up to everything you wanted. If not…sorry! Enjoy! _

Della snuggled deeper into Perry's robe. They had just spent about an hour getting "reacquainted," as Nancy had suggested, though Della was quite sure the activities they engaged in weren't exactly what Nancy had in mind. Since they hadn't stopped at Della's hotel before reaching his house, the only clothes she had were the ones she had worn to the "interview" this morning. She had laid those clothes neatly over a chair and stolen Perry's robe. She had come out of the shower with just a towel wrapped around her and then he went to get in the shower. She put the robe on when he disappeared into the bathroom. It should be interesting to see Perry's reaction when he came out of the bathroom and saw her in his robe.

Suddenly, the phone began to ring. Della listened for a minute, but the shower water was still running. She supposed Perry couldn't hear the phone over the water. She reasoned that really only Nancy should have his direct line and if she was calling, there must be something important going on. She decided she had to answer. "Hello."

"Della?"

"Paul?" Della questioned, her cheeks flushing a bright red. "How did you get this number?"

"Nancy," Paul answered with a smirk growing on his face. "More importantly, why are you answering Perry's phone?"

Della frowned. She knew he was fishing again and she wasn't going to answer him with anything he wanted to hear. "It's none of your business."

Paul smiled. He was happy for his two friends, he just loved to mess with Della. "Could I please talk to Perry?"

"He's a little busy at the moment," Della told Paul. At that moment, she heard the shower water turn off. "He'll be available in just a few seconds."

Paul raised his eyebrows. "What has him so busy?"

Della rolled her eyes. "He was taking a shower. I just heard the water turn off though."

"Why was he taking a shower?" Paul asked. He thought he had a pretty good idea, but he wanted to see what Della would say. She would _never_ tell him the real reason, and he didn't really want to hear it anyway.

"Really, Paul?" Della exclaimed, annoyed with him.

Paul chuckled. "You know you love me, Beautiful."

Della rolled her eyes and turned when she heard the bathroom door open. She took the phone away from her ear and took in a subtle breath as Perry stepped out in a cloud of steam with only a towel wrapped around his waist. She was expecting it, but still.

"Phone for you," Della told him.

Perry ran his eyes over Della in his robe. God, she looked good. He loved the view of her in his robe. He also loved how natural she looked in his house, in his bedroom holding the phone. "Who is it?"

"Someone annoying," Della answered.

Perry took the phone. "Hi, Paul."

Paul heard Della burst out laughing in the background. Paul smiled too but grumbled in mock anger, "I resent that."

Perry chuckled. "You'll get over it. Was there something you wanted?"

Paul suddenly turned serious. "You know how lucky you are, right? Della is there with you now, hopefully to stay."

Perry looked over at Della. She was lying back on his bed with a small smile on her face and her eyes were closed. He smiled. "I know."

"If she ever comes back here to stay, without you, I will come find you and personally kill you," Paul told him.

"I will support you in that decision," Perry said serious as well. If he ever let Della get away again, by his doing or by her own, he was sure he would need to be killed.

Paul nodded. "As long as we understand each other."

Perry smiled. He loved that Paul was so protective of Della. He hoped Paul would never have to be again though, Perry planned to be by her side for a long time. "We do."

"Good," Paul said. "And Perry, I really am happy for you two. Good luck."

"Thanks," Perry said. "Now, if you don't mind…"

Paul smiled, sticking one last jab into the conversation. "I'm sure you have business…or should I say, a woman…to get back to."

Perry rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. He turned to Della, who had opened her eyes. "What did he want?"

Perry shrugged. "He just wanted to remind me how lucky I am."

Della's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she looked away.

"I'm not sure I agree with him right now though," Perry said, with twinkling eyes.

When Della turned back to him in wide-eyed surprise, Perry began to laugh. "You see, my robe seems to have been stolen."

Della chuckled. She ran her eyes down his towel clad form. "Yes, you do seem to be in dire need of it."

"Well, would you like to give it to me?" Perry asked.

"I would," Della told him. "But that presents a problem. Then I won't have anything to wear."

Perry's eyes darkened. "I wouldn't object."

Della rolled her eyes in amusement and exasperation. "I'm sure you wouldn't." Her voice got low and sultry. "To wear a robe though, you need to get out of that towel."

Perry flicked his wrist and disengaged the towel from his waist. He then walked over to Della and untied the belt on the robe. She rolled her shoulders and the robe fell to the floor.

Perry raked his eyes over her body. He set his hands gently on her hips and kissed her fiercely. Della sighed into his mouth and willingly began to participate in the kiss.

-%

An hour later, Della and Perry were laying in his bed, exhausted but comfortable. Della, resting her head on Perry's chest spoke up, "You never did put that robe on. The robe you needed so desperately."

Perry shrugged and ran his fingers through Della's curls. "It worked out better this way." He placed a kiss into her hair.

Della laughed. "You're crazy."

"You love me," Perry teased.

Della rolled on top of him, completely serious, and looked into his eyes. "I do, you know."

Perry nodded. "I know." He kissed her mouth gently. "I love you too."

A small smile formed on Della's lips. She stayed lying on top of Perry and rested her head on his chest.

Perry smiled too and dropped another kiss to Della's hair. He knew there was a lot they needed to talk about, but right now that didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were together…and were going to stay that way for a long time.

_Well, that's the end. I hope you liked it. And I hope it wasn't too corny. The last part gave me such fits! I would love it if you would review. Especially since you won't get another chance! Review please and thanks for reading! _


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